BONA FIDE
by thejunkeymonkey
Summary: When it came to getting a girlfriend, Stefan Salvatore would have never considered dating a strong-willed panther. And although Nuelle detested moving from New York to Mystic Falls, she was determined to make her last two years of high school the best of her life. It's just a bonus that she happened to fall in love with a generous, handsome, caring, and brooding vampire.
1. I AB HINC

_**From Here On**_

THE DAY HAD ENDED AND THE SCHOOL YEAR HAD OFFICIALLY BEGUN. Now everyone could begin planning for the rest of the year. Everything was normal again, with the exception of the new, forest-eyed Stefan Salvatore. Stefan had fit in so well in this seemingly perfect town, due to his seemingly perfect, well, everything.

All everyone else knew was that Stefan Salvatore was the "new, mysterious, loner guy", that moved back into the Salvatore Boarding House with his Uncle Zach. Stefan would be just fine.

Little did everyone know that a new girl was just around the corner.

* * *

"Welcome to Mystic Falls." A raven-haired Latina read with the utmost sarcasm. She could read into the bullshit. The road was engulfed with darkness. No skyscrapers, flashing lights, or blasting music. Just darkness. Even if the sign promised sunshine and rainbows, all Nuelle saw was an abundance of trees. It was too quiet and too eerie. It was easy for the teen to take in everything — there wasn't much to take in.

Seated inside of her family's 2009 silver Mercedes-Benz SL-Class for hours, Nuelle had been looking forward to the welcome sign. However, she masked her relief with contempt.

"Well, no shit." She chuckled.

"Ay, dios mio, mi corazón," Chestnut-haired Carmen Silva pleaded with her daughter, "Your father and I have already decided that will stay in Mystic Falls! Okay?"

All Nuelle did was blink because she had to fully digest that she was actually in Mystic Falls. There would be no more luncheons or mimosas at Saks, or breakfast at Tiffany's.

Nuelle Silva of the Upper-East Side would now have to succumb to (the lives of) small-town beauty queens, small-town gossip, small-town drama, small-town diners, and small-town parties. The Latina was feeling more and more nauseous at the constant thought of her new life.

Her father, the charming Henrí Silva, sensed the escalating tension.

"Look on the bright side míja," He paused to meet her deadpanned look that said is there even a bright side. "Mystic Falls is a wholesome town, the people are welcoming and there are many town soirees. Will the entire town find about your business? Of course, gossip is inevitable in a small town. You'll still gain lifelong friends and a lifelong community. Plus, it's the town where your mother and I met." Henrí looked sweetly at his wife, with the small speech he was hoping to brighten up the mood let's hope that it worked.

Since Nuelle was quiet, probably from contemplating a comeback, her mom saw this moment as the opportunity to end the conversion optimistically.

"You'll be fine mí corazon, you'll see." Nuelle just tightly smiled and nodded. As Nuelle took in her surroundings she found that she was no longer engulfed by the deathly Mystic woods, but by the—somewhat—lively Mystic Grill.

"The Mystic Grill," Nuelle read skeptically, "What are we doing here? I mean it may be the town's only hotspot, but they could have been more creative." She mocked.

Then her mom, while reaching for a card in her plum-colored Michael Kors wallet, turned with a sweet, yet sarcastic smile, "Well do you want to eat tonight or not?" The quick-witted Puerto Rican proceeded to hand her daughter her black American Express card.

The raven-haired teen would have normally fought off her hunger to spite her mom, but Nuelle's grumbling belly sold her out. She opened and classically stepped out of the door, secured the tie of her raven witch cape, begrudgingly took the card from her mother, and shut the door.

Once she's in front of the Grill, Nuelle put on her hood—time to make an entrance. That she did.

With her heels clicking into the Grill, it could be said that Nuelle Silva's arrival changed a fixed fate forever.

* * *

Stefan Salvatore knew that returning to Mystic Falls was a risk. However, sitting next to the sweet and selfless doe-eyed brunette that was Elena Gilbert, made the risk of being in Mystic Falls all the more worth it.

Elena was the reason why the brooding vampire was sitting at a table with her friends. It's not that he couldn't handle them, it's just that Caroline Forbes was intense.

"So were you born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline eagerly inquired, with her eyes sparklingly in infatuation for the new guy.

"Mhmm, moved when I was young." Stefan vaguely replied.

"Parents?" Bonnie added.

"My parents passed away." The table got quiet. How horrible. Bonnie sympathized. Oh, my goodness. Why do such terrible things happen to such kind people? Elena empathized. Well, that explains his depressing demeanor. Caroline remarked.

Elena, since she could easily relate, was the first one to respond. "I'm sorry. Any siblings?"

"Um, none that I talk to. I live with my uncle." Stefan moved on—he put his attention only on Elena.

But just as quickly as Stelena began is just as quickly as the ship would sink, because the universe had other plans.

The entrance to the restaurant dinged, and like anyone else would do, Stefan glanced. It was supposed to be just that, a glance. To Stefan's surprise, his eyes were met with a raven enigma. He was captivated. Who's this? Since Stefan's attention was now focused on this mysterious girl. His peers were forced to look at the new object of his affection.

As Nuelle Silva took down the hood of her cape to unveil her face, she was quickly met with a waitress with medium brown. Her name tag had Vicki on it.

Nuelle greeted, "Hi, there was an order put in for Silva."

"Three burgers with a side of fries and wings, yeah, almost ready, but you gotta wait."

"No problem." The Latina responded. Feeling the entire restaurants eyes on her, Nuelle turned to meet her audience. Most of whom were teens around her age, and God, they were beautiful. The males had ripped and muscular builds, with complementary faces. While the girls—with their perfect hair and makeup—really did look like beauty queens.

Everyone was inspecting this mysterious girl, but one set of eyes were the most intense.

The minute that Stefan's forest green eyes locked with Nuelle's charcoal eyes, time stopped. This dirty blonde haired, Caucasian man was the most beautiful, yet complex person Nuelle had ever laid eyes on, with a chiseled jaw, broad forehead, and tinted, tanned-skin. For Stefan, it was the same thing. Unlike Elena, who was conventionally pretty, this raven-haired beauty has an aura around her that was magnetic—confident, dangerous, and demanding.

Nuelle pulled herself together and headed for the forest green-eyed boy. She was determined to put a name to his face. Plus, the table of teens all seemed nice enough.

Smiling Nuelle greeted, "Hi."

"Hey." The girls greeted kindly, but the dark blond remained quiet, studying the raven-haired brunette.

"How are the fries here?" The boy appeared to be a knowledgeable person, so Nuelle zeroed in on the unnamed dark blond.

Stefan, caught off guard by the girl's boldness, as most girls would be intimidated by his gaze, stammered, "Uuuhhhh, umm-"

The doe-eyed brunette, not really sure how to feel about the interaction, decided to interject, "He wouldn't know, he's new. But they're amazing." The brunette on the far right of the table smiled reassuringly, hoping her jealousy didn't show through.

"Good to know." Nuelle's charcoal eyes not leaving those forest-green eyes. Hmmm. He kind of has hero hair. She continued. "My parents and I just moved here, so..."

The boy, tilting his head a little bit, inquired, "From where?'

"New York."

"And your parents chose to come here?" The golden blonde girl, sitting across from the male, scoffed in disbelief.

The raven-haired girl turned her attention to the like-minded girl, and shook her head, " I know."

Changing the subject, Nuelle started, "You guys wouldn't happen to go to Mystic High?"

"We do," The dark blond boy confirmed.

"All of us." The golden blonde included.

"Together," The tan brunette stated.

"We're juniors," The mocha-toned brunette mentioned.

The girl's charcoal eyes lit up, "Me too. But I'm filled with dread."

"Why is that?" The boy leaned forward.

"Are you familiar with the works of Truman Capote?" The girls looked confused, who the hell was Truman Capote. The forest green-eyed boy, however, was impressed.

She proceeded, "I'm Breakfast at Tiffany's," The girls had a lightbulb moment. "But this place is strictly In Cold Blood."

They laugh. "Nuelle Silva." Nuelle introduced.

"Stefan Salvatore." The revealed information only put the opposites in a deeper trance. The forgotten Gilbert, noticing this, cleared her throat.

"Sorry, uh, this is Elena Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, and Caroline Forbes."

"Wait, aren't you supposed to give me my tour tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm your peer mentor." The golden blonde confirmed.

Stefan, ever so polite, offered her to join them. "Would you like to join us?" The others who were seated realized that Stefan may not have been that into Elena as they thought.

"Can't, my parents are waiting for me." Nuelle shrugged.

"So," She began to walk off.

"Wait," Caroline exclaimed, "If you and Stefan are new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." This obviously peaked Nuelle's interest.

"It's a back to school thing at the Falls." Bonnie backed up.

Stefan, to the fleeting beauty, asked, "Are you going?"

"To a party? Of course am I."

Vicki approached the group, "Here's your food."

"Thank you!" From the smell of the food, Nuelle forgot about how hungry she was.

Looking over her shoulder, Nuelle winked, "So, to be continued." Without waiting for a reply, Nuelle left in strife giving Stefan one last glance. Her retreating figure just left Stefan more intrigued.

* * *

The new Silva estate was very monstrous, it put half the houses of Mystic Falls to shame. It was a warm-toned, Spanish style estate. The Silva parents really went all out. Even if Nuelle was pleased with her new home, the size of the house made the move all the more permanent.

"Home sweet home," Henrí exclaimed while putting the car in park.

"Finally," Carmen stepped out, "Let's call the help to take the stuff out, get settled into our new home, and eat!"

Once Henrí was out of the car, Carmen showered her husband with love, kissing all over his face.

Nuelle would normally comment on this public display of affection, but she was reeling from her intense encounter with the intriguing dark blond.

Noticing this, Carmen pulled away from her husband's embrace and tip-toed to her daughter's side of the car. She tapped the window and said, "Mi corazón, mi corazón, are you coming out?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nuelle replied, snapping out of her daze. "Which room's mine?" She requested, headed towards the house.

"Umm, the last room on the right of the second floor." Her mother replied back puzzled. What had gotten into her daughter?

* * *

As Stefan was changing, Zach barged into his room. "You promised." Zach held up the newspaper article and then handed the article to Stefan.

"Bodies Found Mutilated By Animal"

Stefan was confused, he wasn't drinking. Stefan already knew the risk of coming to Mystic Falls. How could this happen? Was there another vampire in town? There hasn't been more than one vampire in this town since 1994. Me and Damo-no he couldn't be here. It's probably just an animal attack.

And so Stefan went with that, "This was an animal attack."

Zach refused to believe that, "Don't give me that. I know the game. You tear them up enough, they always suspect an animal attack. You said you had it under control."

"And I do." Stefan defended.

"Please, Uncle Stefan. Mystic Falls is a different place now. It's been quiet for years, but there are people who still remember. And you being here, it's just going to stir things up." Zach pleaded.

"It's not my intention."

"Then what is? Why did you come back? After all this time, why now?"

"I don't have to explain myself." I'm still figuring it out myself.

"I know that you can't change what you are. But you don't belong here anymore." Zach hinted.

"Where do I belong?" Stefan rebuked sorrowfully.

"I can't tell you what to do. But coming back here was a mistake." Zach snapped, and with that being said he walked out of the room and threw the newspaper on the floor.

Stefan Salvatore didn't want to think too much about why he was in Mystic Falls and the consequences, he just wanted to be. Most times he had all these responsibilities of being a vampire, that he felt as though the world was on his shoulders.

Every other injury, death, or incident caused by a vampire was his responsibility. As he turned to the cabinet he was reminded of why he felt that way.

He unlocked the mud-colored oakwood cabinet revealing to himself. He pulled out the thickest journal with no year on the side. The journal was crimson, with a leather exterior. Stefan opened a page to see a really old picture that appeared to be Elena, but below the picture, the writing said Katherine, 1864.

Elena may look like Katherine, but that doesn't mean Elena was Katherine.

Luckily for Stefan, he wouldn't need to convince himself of that daily. There was a certain raven-haired Nuelle Silva on his mind.

* * *

"So, I usually have to start off my tours with history and context, which I don't understand why they make me do that when you could just go to the town archives, but..." Caroline got cut off by Nuelle's chuckling, noticing that she's been rambling.

To recover, the chirpy blonde continued, "Anyway, Mystic Falls High School was built on a resident Native American village, and-"

"And for every 50 years, it hasn't been redecorated since. Honestly, I feel like I'm wandering through the lost epilogue of "Our Town" - what's the social scene like here? Any nightclubs?"

Finally, something Caroline could rant about. She took a deep breath and spat it all out, "A strip club called the Uranus and a tragic gay bar called Innuendo. Friday nights it's football games, then tailgate parties in the parking lot, or Lockwood Mansion - whichever is closest, and attendance is mandatory. Saturday night is for parties - at the Falls, the Grill, Lockwood's, or whoever's, and better get there early, because we don't have valet. Sunday nights, well, thank God for HBO."

"I'm impressed."

"Well," Caroline flipped her hair, "I try. I just have to ask, is it true that your dad is a huge business mogul?"

Nuelle smirked, "Trading mogul, if we're being specific. But I'm not one to brag."

"Why not? I would, it's definitely better than having your mom be the sheriff." The blonde complained.

As they strayed further, Caroline was going to resume her rehearsed tour, until they heard Mr. Tanner's booming voice.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" The volume of his voice interested Nuelle. She went to peek inside his class. To her pleasant surprise, she spotted Stefan.

Pulling Caroline to her view, the raven-haired girl beamed, "There's the hottie you were with last night. The mysterious, hot, brooding, guy. Is he single?"

"Ummm, yeah,-" Caroline hesitated.

"In that case, mind putting in a word? I'm in dire need of a boy-toy to distract me till the spring collections are released, and I've tried every flavor and I do not mind trying blond again."

"He is single...but—,"

"Great! Maybe he and I can have a little fun for now..."

"Uhh...uh."

Stefan, catching the sound of voices, saw the duo through the window. Nuelle's eyes locked eyes with his first, and gleaming, she bit her lips. While Caroline, fearful of Tanner's wrath, gasped and pulled them away.

"Hey," Nuelle yelped, "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry for ruining your little moment. But unless you want to make a bad first impression with Tanner and have a month's detention with him as well, then I suggest that you keep the lingering gazes to a minimum."

"Sorry that I can't help myself, he's just so beautiful. His eyes are so green," She smirked, "Do you think that he'll be at the party tonight?"

"I don't know why he wouldn't be." The blonde scoffed. "But let me give you the rundown of how this school works. Give your schedule."

"Okay," Nuelle searched her bag. "Here."

Caroline read the schedule, "So you have: AP European Lit first period, Chem second, Italian third, Music fourth, a study fifth, Tanner sixth, and PE last. We have the same exact schedule. Briggs is alright, he just acts like he's 15 instead of 40. Garcia is honestly the best. Just make sure not to sit in the front for Guarnaschelli, unless you like a waterfall. Why music? Do you play an instrument?"

"It depends on what instrument I'm feeling." The raven-haired girl shrugged.

"Look at you," The blonde teased, "What do you play?"

"My voice, piano, bass, and sax."

"Sax?"

"Saxophone." She said like it was obvious.

"Don't understand why you couldn't have said that in the first place." The blonde muttered.

Nuelle clapped her hands, "Any more advice on the Tasmanian Devil?"

"Oh God where do I start...If you know your stuff you'll be fine—on a good day. He's excessive—a paper every week. You didn't hear it from me, but I just think that he's like that because the football team sucks," They laugh uncontrollably, "You can do a sport in place of PE, so you better be doing cheer."

"I wouldn't dream of anything else." Nuelle joked.

The bell rung. Before they headed off to their lockers, Caroline locked their arms, and squealed, "This is beginning of a beautiful friendship." Then she ran off.

Left to her own devices, the raven-haired girl was lost, making her stick out like a sore thumb.

This made her easy for Stefan to spot, "Hey." He said calmly.

"Oh, Hi. You scared me." Nuelle breathed. Then for a minute, they gazed into each other's eyes.

"Umm, I thought I would say hi. How's your first day going so far?" Stefan regained himself.

"Not bad. Caroline is like my fairy godmother, if it was not for her then I would be lost. She's like the Janice and Damion to my Katie. Mean Girls reference." She chuckled. Well, this is awkward.

They chuckled together, and as the laughing died down they began to gaze at each other again - but then the bell rang.

"Where are you headed?" Stefan asked.

"I believe I'm going to Chem, with Garcia." She nodded in confirmation.

"Same here." Stefan didn't if he could withstand a class with the raven-haired girl. Something about the look she was giving him in History told him that she was going to be trouble for the younger Salvatore.

"Great, well let's go," They entered the classroom by the end of the hall. Nuelle sat next to Caroline. Stefan sat next to the pair, leaving the brewing couple to steal glances with each other all class.

* * *

"So this is a Mystic Falls party...how depressing," Nuelle said unimpressed, eyeing all of the party-goers. And to think I touched up my make-up for this. "Why are we here again?"

"Oh come on, it's not even that bad. You're just mad that a certain someone isn't here yet." Caroline nudged.

"Oh shut up," Nuelle jokingly nudged back. "Seriously, where is the dancefloor, the bar, the fun? Do you really expect me to drink from a cooler?"

Rolling her eyes Caroline responded, "How do you think I feel, hmmm? People look up to me, I have to set an example. Come on, let me introduce you to some people." Caroline proceeded to drag her raven-haired friend to Matt and Tyler.

They walk to the around side of the woods to greet Vicki, with two tall and buff males. On with golden blond hair and the other with dark brown hair. "Hey, you guys. This is the infamous, Nuelle Silva, she is from New York and she is..."

"Puerto Rican and Mexican," Nuelle clarified.

Caroline felt pride, "Since she's new, I've decided to take her under my wing." The dark-haired boy looked at her in a lustful way, and it immediately turned the Latina off. He must be the jock. They all noticed his staring, and Nuelle got uncomfortable. The blond, wanting to ease her discomfort, introduced himself first.

"Hi, I'm Matt Donovan." He offered his hand.

"You're cute." Nuelle boldly stated while taking his hand. Surprised by her boldness, Matt blushed.

"This is great! Now you guys mingle, and I'll be right back." Caroline ran off.

"Care-, wait. And she's gone," Nuelle exasperated. "Vicki right? You gave me my food last night. I love your hair, you make me want highlights!"

Vicki surprised with the compliment, as most people would try to fix her hair, said, "Umm, thanks. I dye my hair every month myself. At least someone notices." Vicki pinched Tyler.

"Ouch, hey! I choose to show my appreciation in other ways." Tyler smirked.

Matt shook his head in disgust, "You guys are disgusting," When he looked up, he spotted Elena. "You know what, I'll be back."

"Is today leave your friends with other friends day?" Nuelle joked.

"I don't know. Caroline is always like that and Matt probably saw Elena," Tyler shrugged. "Actually Vicki and I were just going to refill our drinks."

"We were?" Vicki questioned, but Tyler and she were off before Vicki could protest.

"Great. I guess I'll go find Caroline, then." Nuelle sighed to herself.

As Nuelle walked through a sea of drunk couples, she finally spotted Caroline—with Stefan.

* * *

Stefan had just let Elena down. It kind of pained him to reject her, but if he was being honest, the vampire just saw a more secure future with Nuelle.

Nuelle, the person that had occupied his mind in the past two days, was the person that he wanted to see right now. She was the only person that he felt human with. His thoughts were quickly interrupted, as he was met with a bubbly blonde.

"Hey! There you are. Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they are really cool at night. And I can show you...if you want." Caroline hinted.

"I think you've had too much to drink." Stefan snubbed.

"Well, of course, I have. So—"

"Caroline. You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry." Stefan rejected, leaving Caroline be dumbfounded.

Luckily for Caroline, when she turned around to recover, she found herself in Nuelle's arms. Being held in the comfort of someone familiar caused Caroline to sob her heart away.

"He's an ass, Carebear."

At the same time Elena's shrill voice echoed the forest, "Somebody help!"

Nuelle was worried, "Let's get out of here Caroline."

"And go where?" Caroline whimpered.

"Do you know any coffee shops?"

Caroline shook her head.

"Come on, who's your ride?

"Bonnie."

"Let's fetch Bonnie and get outta here."

"Hey, ready to go?" Bonnie breathed.

"Yeah, do you know any coffee shops?"

"Yeah, Mainline Coffee. Wanna go?"

Once they put Caroline in the Prius, Bonnie asked, "Is anything wrong?"

"She's depressed drunk due to Stefan's rejection."

Bonnie's eyes widened, "Well he sure is the heartbreaker. He let Lena down tonight. Something about her needing to be alone and find herself before jumping into another relationship." Nuelle couldn't help the skip of her heartbeat. Ughh, I'm the worst.

"So where's Elena now?"

"After finding Vicki, I think she's gonna go to the hospital to check on how Matt and Vicki are doing, and then go home. She's had a long night." Not giving Nuelle any time to respond, Bonnie started the car and drove to the Mainline Coffee.

* * *

Stefan was frantic, forget about the fact that he didn't see Nuelle all night—who the hell bit Vicki? Stefan's uncertainty made Zach panic.

"What's going on?" Zach demanded.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." Stefan entered his bedroom, leaving himself with time to think - but a crow appeared. Stefan didn't want to believe it, but the truth was in his face.

"Damon." He turned to the balcony, where a smug, tall raven-haired male, with the most striking blue eyes, stood.

"Hello, brother," Damon smirked.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog."

"When'd you get here?"

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school. Your hair's different. I like it."

"It's been 15 years, Damon."

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." Damon mocked.

"Why are you here?" Stefan challenged.

"I miss my little brother."

"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy."

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you."

"Ah. That can be a problem...for you."

"Why are you here now?" Stefan persisted.

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word...Elena."

* * *

They had made it to the Grill, but Bonnie was still so unnerved about the touching incident, that she had to call Elena.

"You know what, you guys go ahead and get settled, I'm gonna call my Grams to tell her where I am - I was supposed to be home by 10."

"No problem, we'll order for you. What would you like?" Nuelle offered.

"I wouldn't mind a caramel macchiato."

"K, see you inside." Bonnie dialed Elena's number as soon as she could. Elena picked up on the first ring.

"Bonnie?"

"Hey. We're, well Care, Nuelle, and I, at Mainline Coffee, wait for news."

"I gotta take Jeremy home."

"Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." Bonnie fretted.

"Bonnie, what?" Elena was scared.

"That it's just the beginning."

* * *

Damon continued, "She took my breath away. Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine. Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?"

Not anymore. "She's not Katherine."

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?" Damon taunted.

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work."

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon began to push Stefan.

"Stop it."

"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or just, let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Elena."

"Stop it!"

"Imagine what her blood tastes like!" With that Stefan's face transformed.

"I can."

"I said stop!" Stefan roared. He ran into Damon, throwing him out of the window. When he landed on the pavement Damon wasn't there.

"I was impressed. I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face...thing. It was good." Damon teased.

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die."

"That's a given."

"Not here. I won't allow it." Not to Elena, not to Nuelle.

"I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word."

"Just stay away from Elena."

"Just Elena? Because word on the street is that you've found yourself a new lady friend," How did he— "Oh Nuelle. She's sexy. Latina too with those catlike eyes. Mhmm. I wonder how she is in—"

Stefan growled.

"Where's your ring? Oh, yeah, the sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes. Relax. It's right here."

Damon grabbed Stefan by the throat and threw him against the garage. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again. I think we woke Zach up. Sorry, Zach." He walked off. Stefan began stressing over Damon's arrival. This was going to be a long year.

* * *

Meanwhile, Caroline was lamenting and it was up to her two friends to "comfort" her. Across from her right was Bonnie and on the left was Nuelle.

"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline raised her head slightly, but she sighed with, "No."

"Keep drinking. I gotta get you home. I gotta get me home."

"Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?"

"I'm not touching that."

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And...Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and...I'm never the one."

"He didn't even pick her Caroline," Bonnie revealed. "He picked no one." That's what she thought. "And even if he did pick anyone it's not a competition, Caroline."

"Yeah, it is." Nuelle remained quiet throughout the conversation, it was painful, observing the friendship. From what Nuelle gathered, she could see that Bonnie and Elena were definitely closer. Nuelle felt a surge of inspiration rush through her body, as she could be the best friend that Caroline needed.

"I gotta go, Caroline. Make sure she leaves sober." Bonnie emphasized to Nuelle.

Once Bonnie was out of sight, Nuelle positioned herself in front of Caroline, grabbed her arms, and said, "Caroline you are a beautiful, bubbly, sassy, confident, and spirited girl. If Stefan couldn't see that, then screw him."

"Easy for you to say, Stefan only has eyes for you." Can't argue with that.

"Enough about me Care, I'm serious. There will be a day when a guy, so hot, powerful, and sweet will shower you with love and overwhelm you with passion. You may not believe me now, but you'll see.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, I was in your position once, I would throw myself at guys for acceptance just to get slapped in the face. I was emotionally abused. But then one day, I realized that they're not worth it. I realized that I am strong, fierce, and sexy. I don't need assurance from others. Fuck 'em. You know what?"

"What?"

"Let's make a tradition. Since Friday nights are the games, on every Friday night we'll have a sleepover. We'll rotate houses, biweekly. We can rant, cry, sob, laugh, and just be ourselves together."

Caroline's eyes sparkled, "We can watch reruns of The Notebook, A Walk To Remember, Mamma Mia, Breakfast at Tiffany's," She dazed off. "This is going to be amazing."

Nuelle giggled, "Of course it will. Now I'm gonna go, it's now, wow, 11:30, I'm going to miss my full 10 hours of sleep. Well, this was fun."

"Wait," before she can walk off, Caroline stopped her. "Thanks for putting up me."

"Seriously Care, it was no problem. See you tomorrow." The fleeting Nuelle missed a certain raven-haired, blue-eyed vampire. Unfortunately for Caroline, she just gravitated towards trouble.

* * *

"Hi sweetheart," Carmen opened the door and appeared in a navy satin pajama suit "How was your day?"

Stretching Nuelle beamed, "It was actually pretty good. I made a new friend," Hmm, met some gorgeous boys, mingled. "Mystic Falls may not be so bad after all. Why?" Her mother had already asked.

"Well," Carmen sways closer to where her daughter is seated on her vanity. "Your new friend, I believe his name is Stefan, is requesting your presence."

"He's here?!" Nuelle exclaimed, "Well, let's not keep him waiting." Nuelle rushed down the hall, down the stairs to the foyer, opened the door to be, and was met with forest green eyes.

"Hey." She said breathlessly.

"Hi," Stefan grinned.

"What are you doing here?" Nuelle wondered - she obviously knew what he was doing here, but with her mother breathing down her neck, she couldn't let her know that.

"We're partners for the Chem project, I just wanted to get a head start now," Stefan studied Carmen's face. "Is now a bad time?"

"No."

"Yes."

Carmen and Nuelle frowned at each other.

"What I meant is that, it's a bit late, so maybe at another time?" Carmen wasn't asking.

"Yeah, sure," Stefan cleared his throat. "See you tomorrow." At this moment, Nuelle couldn't despise her mother anymore.

"Let me walk you out." Nuelle closed the door and walks with Stefan.

"I didn't get to see you at the party tonight—"

"There is a tree right next to my window, and my window will be unlocked." She whispered.

Nuelle ran back into the house and into her room. She locked the door. Before she had time to open the window, Stefan was already there.

"Oh my goodness," She grabbed her pearls and gasped, "You scared me—again."

"Sorry, you just took me by surprise, so I was anxious. Really want to start the project that bad?"

"No," She said flatly. "I want to get to know you. You're so tense all the time, like do you ever smile?"

The forest-green eyed blond chuckled, "Okay, what did you have in mind?"

"What about 21 questions. I'll start. What's your favorite ice cream?"

"Oreo cookies and cream, you?"

"I am shocked, I would have expected plain old vanilla. I'm a rocky road type of a girl."

"From the looks of your closest," He pointed to the open closest. "Why do you only wear skirts?"

"I don't know. Skirts are a trademark of femininity, I guess. I am very much a smart, independent, soft, kind, compassionate, nurturing, fierce, and positive woman on the inside, as much as I am on the outside. If someone is going to generalize me on my clothing or femininity then that's their problem, not mine."

"That's amazing." Stefan blurted, causing the Latina to blush.

"I know. What's up with you and Elena and Caroline?"

"Nothing," Nuelle raised an eyebrow. "Umm, Caroline is intense and would just be better as a friend?"

"Oh I heard, what was it "You and me, it's not gonna happen," I mean could you be any harsher."

"I didn't want to lead her on," Stefan defended and moved on. "Elena and I had a connection, but something better came along the way." He gazed intently as Nuelle, making her feel warm all over.

She fanned herself, "Could it be anymore?"

"No."

"Well, good to know."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Their eyed lock.

"No. Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes, you?"

"Maybe once."

"Could you ever fall in love?"

"Possibly."

* * *

It's now 1:30 in the morning and Stefan and Nuelle were playing Hot Hands.

"You're cheating." The raven-haired girl laughed furiously.

The blond laughed back, "You're just too slow. Come on, one more round."

"No, no, no," She shook her head. "You're not even letting me win."

"I'm supposed to let you win?"

"Obviously."

"One more round, come one," He held out his hands.

"Okay," Nuelle hesitates. 1...2...3. BAM

"I lost, again." Nuelle dryly stated.

Stefan couldn't help but laugh, "Better luck next time."

"I'm never playing with you again," She shunned. "You can leave."

"Now you're kicking me out." Stefan teased.

"Yes, I'm kicking you out." She mimicked. They arose, and Stefan opened the window while Nuelle got his jacket from her futon. As he was turning around to say goodbye, Nuelle turned to hand him his jacket. And so, there noses touch.

"Goodnight." Nuelle stammered.

"Goodnight," Stefan whispered. However, none of them made a move to leave—but Stefan heard footsteps. "See you tomorrow." He began to head down.

"See you tomorrow." Nuelle leaned forward. Stefan smiled and climbed further down. Nuelle closed her window and bit her lip.

"Mija," Her dad knocked on her door, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just had a rough draft of a paper to finish. I'm going to bed now. Love you."

"Love you too." Nuelle turned off her lights and scurried off to bed. I think I love it here already.

* * *

 **not edited**

 **italics are for thoughts**

 **word count: 6,323**

 **Comment, Fav, Follow, and Review!**


	2. II CARPE DIEM

**_Seize the Day_**

 _September 9, 2009_

 _Dear Diary,_

 _This is Nuelle reporting back to you to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you! I was just going through a bit of a dry spell. I'm back for good now, and for good reason. This Morning is different. A good type of different. I can sense it, I can feel it. For the first time in a long time, I feel completely and undeniably awake. For once, I don't hate the day before it begins. I take the day in stride because I know will see him._

 _I feel like myself._

 _"Knock, knock. Nuelle breakfast is ready." Her mother announced from the other side of the door._

 _"Coming." The raven-haired girl replied back to her mother._

 _Let's just hope it stays that way._

 _Love, Nuelle_

* * *

"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" A happy Nuelle, dressed impeccably in a black matching set with a lace top, adorned with a white collar, and a plain black skirt, entered the kitchen. She kissed her mother on the cheek.

The chestnut brunette, in a black robe, laughed, "Good morning, mí corazon. It's just me."

Nuelle looked around to see that it was only her and her mother.

"Where's dad?"

"Work. Here's your coffee." Carmen handed her daughter a capped mug of black coffee.

"Thank you." She sat down on a stool, across the island.

"Shouldn't you be at work, then too, mom?"

"Well, when your the district attorney work waits for you." Nuelle stared skeptically at her mom, as she was one of the most punctual people she knew.

"Plus, I wanted to spend some time with my girl."

"Really?" The raven-haired latina raised an eyebrow.

"Really." She hesitated, "Well, what's going on with you and that broody gringo?"

"Stefan? We're just friends."

"Really?"

"Really. Well, at least for now." Nuelle began to pack up, "And he's not the only reason for my sudden burst of happiness. I've made a new friend, Caroline. You actually know her mom, Sheriff Forbes."

"Liz's daughter?" Her mom asked in excitement, as Liz and her where quite close themselves.

"Yup, and we're going to hang out after school. Then tomorrow's the comet, which I'll be volunteering for."

"Look at you getting involved." They shared a laugh.

"Yeah, well. Oh, shoot," The girl checked the time on her iPhone, "I'm gonna be late. I'll see you later. Don't wait up." She grabbed her keys for her Jeep Cherokee and headed out the door.

"Love you," Nuelle yelled.

"Love you too, drive safely." The attorney sighed. What am I going to do with that girl?

* * *

For a while now, Garcia had been going on about the composition of the moon, and how a meteor could cause a comet or collision.

Normally, Caroline wouldn't mind because she would have someone, like Nuelle, to gossip with. But since said someone was busy making googly eyes at Stefan, she was forced to listen to the lesson.

"Excuse, Mrs. Garcia."

"Yes, Caroline." Everyone looked confused at the blonde because when was the last time Caroline Forbes participated?

"What does a rock in space have to do with chemistry?" The class snickered.

The middle-aged latina smiled, "Good question Caroline. As you all know, tomorrow is the town's comet celebration. The comet was originally discovered nearly 5 centuries ago. It hasn't been in Mystic Falls in over 145 years. The faculty is forced with the task of explaining the relevance of the comet in each subject," She paused, "I hope I'm not boring you, Stefan, Nuelle."

The dirty blond-haired and the raven-haired couple dropped their gazes from each other and mouthed "no".

"Great," The bell rang, "Well there will be no homework for tomorrow."

"Yes!" A chorus of students cheered.

"Enjoy it, because there will be a benchmark on Friday. Enjoy your day."

"Can you guys like not have eye sex for 10 minutes?" Caroline and Nuelle were heading to the other side of the hall as they spotted Bonnie and Elena.

"Ummm."

"Don't answer that." They laughed.

"In my defense, he starts it," Nuelle claimed.

"Who starts what?" Stefan appeared behind them.

"Nothing." The blonde and raven-haired brunette shared a mischievous look. The pair of friends continued to walk in silence, looking away from the hero-haired male.

"Oh, okay. I see. You obviously don't want your book." The boy threatened.

"You brought it!" Nuelle exclaimed, breaking her silence.

"Hmm," He handed the book to Nulle, "Told ya."

"Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell." Nuelle read. "You know, I can't believe she didn't use her real name."

"All the Bronte sisters used pseudonyms. It was the time. Female writers weren't very accepted then." Stefan informed.

"I know, I know. Sexism and misogyny, all the great limitations of the past. Where did you get it?" She wondered how he could get an original copy of the novel as not she could get a hold of one.

"Uh, it was passed down. Through the family."

"Ah." That made sense.

"I have lots of books. Go ahead. Keep it."

"Oh, no. I...but I would like to read it again. I promise I'll give it back."

"Ugh, can you two be any more romantic?" The forgotten blonde mocked. The couple blushed. "Oh, I see Bonnie and Elena. Let's go." Caroline rushed off to their friends without waiting.

"Caroline, wait!" She began to chase after her friend until she remembered the forest green-eyed boy, "Uh. Bye Stef."

Chuckling, the boy waved at the latina's retreating figure.

"Hey, guys." Nuelle eventually reached her other friends.

"Hey." Bonnie greeted.

"What are you girls talking about?"

"How Bonnie's a witch," Elena revealed.

"Seriously? I just thought you were joking." Caroline admitted.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" Elena continued, interestedly.

"Technically..." The undiscovered witch didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline interrupted.

"Wait. What?" Nuelle looked to the rest of her friends in disbelief, "There was a guy? What guy?"

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?" Bonnie defended herself.

"Stranger danger." The two other brunettes joked, earning a look from Caroline.

"I don't know. I was drunk." Which earned a laugh from Nuelle and Elena, and a nudge from Bonnie.

As the foursome continued walking, they saw Matt outside.

"Wait, there's Matt." Elena pointed out as she went to talk to him.

"Isn't he your ex?" Nuelle raised an accusatory eyebrow.

"It's only about Vicki." Elena tried to defend her misleading actions.

"Tell him that." Caroline sassed.

"Leave her alone, you guys." The shorter girl protested.

"Whatever, see you at the grill. Later, Lena." With that, the friends had left the eldest Gilbert to comfort her ex-boyfriend.

"He's so in love with her," Nuelle noted from the parking lot.

"I know." Bonnie sighed.

"It's pathetic," Caroline said in spite, which caused Bonnie and Nulle to share a knowing look.

"Maybe he needs someone to help him forget about Elena." Nuelle hinted.

"Yeah, well, whatever," Caroline brushed off their insinuations, "Ready for the Grill?"

"Yeah," Bonnie responded.

"Umm, I'll catch you guys later." Nuelle spotted the seated hero-haired boy.

"Hmm, okay." Caroline said suspiciously, "Don't keep us waiting."

"I'll try not to." Nuelle trailed off, walking closer to Stefan. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

"Umm, okay," Nuelle looked around and cleared her throat. "Guess I'm off to The Grill."

* * *

The group of friends were now sitting outside of The Grill, catching up on what happened over the span of 24 hours.

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie was explaining until Caroline cut her off.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens. So then what?" The blonde turned to the raven-haired girl.

She gave Caroline a pointed look, "Caroline don't be rude." She let out a breath, "But then nothing."

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of any kind?"

"Wait, Stefan spent the entire night at yours?" Elena was shocked.

"Not the entire night." Nuelle corrected.

"Well there goes my chances," Elena tried to joke.

"Omg, you guys nothing happened!"

"Not even a handshake? Nuelle, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut."

"We just talked for hours." Nuelle insisted, and Elena and Bonnie just sipped their tea. But the determined blonde was having none of it.

"OK, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!

"Profound." But she's right. The thought got the raven-haired girl to think a bit. If she and Stefan kept at the rate that they were going, who was to say that someone else wouldn't try and take him? Someone needed to make a move now.

"You know what. You're right." Nuelle got up and gathered her belongings.

"I know I am," The only blonde at the table crossed her arms in content.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Care is right. It's simple. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was gonna do."

"But you what's your excuse?" Elena asked skeptically.

In response, Nuelle held up a school book and smirked, "We have Chemistry."

* * *

"Okay, so here I am, at the Salvatore Boarding House. Easy enough. Now let's just get this over with, what's the worse that can happen?" The raven-haired girl prepped herself as she got out of her matte black Jeep Cherokee and walked up to the Salvatore door.

She knocked a couple of times and nothing happened. Before she knocked again, the door crept opened.

"Hello?" She stepped through the door. "Stefan? Stefan? Is this even the right house?" She wondered. All of a sudden a crow flew into the house.

"WHAT THE HELL!" She screamed and jumped around, only to be met with a strange blue-eyed, raven-haired man.

Holding up her book she calmly asked, "No offense but who the hell are you and where the hell did you come from?"

Instead of answering, the raven-haired man took the book from her hands and read the cover, "Chemistry, A Molecular Approach to Science," Looking up he handed the book back to the cautious girl, "Weird, I thought Stefan was more of a History guy."

"Thanks," She smiled tightly, "And we have Chemistry together."

"You must be Nuelle. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." The man finally introduced himself.

Hmmm, I don't see it. "He did say anything about a brother."

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." He led her into the parlor.

"Is this your living room?" Nuelle was amazed but still too shaken to let her guard down.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste. I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

Nuelle turned, confused, "The last one?

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend? Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

"I mean we've only known each other for 3 days." The raven-haired girl wasn't really fazed.

"Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

What an asshole. The raven-haired girl frowned, "You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."

"I'm a fatalist. Hello, Stefan." The eldest Salvatore turned to entryway where the younger brother had magically appeared.

"Nuelle, I didn't know you were coming over." The younger Salvatore said formally.

"I know. I should have called, I just, thought we could start on the Chem project." The young Silva weakly stated.

"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." Damon teased, but there was something way off with their relationship.

Stefan wasn't having it, "Thank you for stopping by, Nuelle. Nice you."

How? Wait, what? What just happened? Am I getting kicked out? Nuelle could feel her face getting heated and a tear beginning to form. This was so embarrassing. "Yeah, I should probably go," she put the book in her black Hermes tote, "I can tell when I'm not wanted. It was nice to meet you, Damon."

"Great meeting you, too, Nelly." The raven-haired Salvatore called out as the raven-haired Silva stormed off. Not waiting for Stefan to move out of the way, she bumped into his shoulder and slammed the door, causing the blond-haired Salvatore to flinch. He instantly regretted the way he treated the girl who he wanted to give all his attention to.

"Great gal. Whoo. She's got pizzazz. You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today? Let me guess...hospital." Damon couldn't help but mock his stressed brother.

"Someone had to clean up your mess," was all Stefan said.

"Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work? Remember, if you don't feed properly, none of those little tricks work right."

"How long was Nuelle here?" The younger brother worried.

"Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past?"

"How can we repeat the past with someone who's not even your type?" Stefan quipped.

"Girl is my type." The elder Salvatore claimed.

"Nuelle's not Katherine." Stefan reminded Damon.

"But Elena is. So why aren't you playing your little game of, "I'm a high school human," with her?"

"I'm not playing any game."

"Of course you are. We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it."

"What kind of game are you playing, Damon?" The concerned brother questioned.

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

* * *

Nuelle Silva was feeling a lot of emotions right now, especially anger and embarrassment. She didn't even know how she got home in one piece. But the minute she did get home she called the people who basically sent on her disastrous mission, even if it was mainly Caroline. She was not going to dwell in sadness alone.

"Hello." Elena and Bonnie picked up.

"Hey, you guys," Nuelle lamely greeted.

"How'd it go?" Caroline went right in.

"Horribly. He's basically on the rebound and has raging family issues."

"Oh no." Bonnie and Elena lamented.

"It's always the hot ones," Caroline whispered, which had her friends rolling their eyes to.

"But that's still doesn't give him the right to treat you like an asshole." Bonnie supported.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues."

"Umm, okay," The girls laughed, "Who's that?"

"Jenna. I'm Elena's Aunt Jenna. But call me Jenna."

"Thank you for the encouragement." Nuelle thanked the experienced woman.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna suddenly yelled.

"You guys I gotta go." The Gilbert hung up.

"You know what, I need to crash and binge. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, feel better." Bonnie kindly wished.

"Bye." Caroline echoed and hung up.

* * *

"Would you like a program?"

"Here you go. Here you are." At the townsquare, the blonde and raven-haired pair of friends offered the townspeople "The Night of the Comet" pamphlets.

"So he didn't even call, huh?" Caroline asked.

"Or text," The raven-haired teen revealed, wearing her pearl necklace, a plum-colored bodycon, high-waisted plaid pencil skirt, and over-toed heels, "But waiting around I also realized that we never exchanged that information." Nuelle sighed.

"That's a very important milestone in any relationship," Caroline added.

"Isn't it?" The timing is wrong, anyway." The raven-haired beauty excused.

"When is it ever right?" Bonnie and Elena joined in, giving Caroline the opportunity to leave as she spotted a raven-haired man.

"I'm ready, but what if he's not ready Bonnie?"

"Who is?" Elena wondered.

"I was literally throwing myself at him. I'm putting myself out there." Nuelle defended.

"Is that what you're calling it?" The Bennet scoffed.

"What are you saying?" The Silva asked a bit offended.

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie left her with that.

Nuelle looked to the Gilbert, "What else am I supposed to do?"

Elena put a sympathetic hand on the helpless girl's shoulder, "You'll figure it out."

* * *

"What is Damon doing here? Why did he come home?" Back at the Salvatore Boarding House, while Stefan was getting ready for the comet, his antsy nephew couldn't help but question his other ancestor's motives.

"Cause I came home. He wants to make my life miserable. That's how he enjoys his." Stefan remarked.

"Well, he's putting us all at risk. This girl in the hospital could talk." Zack pointed out.

"She won't. I took care of her." The green-eyed brother assured.

"You're sure?"

Stefan sighed, "I'm not sure, Zach. I don't know how well it worked. I'm not as strong as Damon."

"So what happens if it doesn't work?"

"I don't know. I'll deal with it." Stefan tried to end the topic.

"Is she worth it? Uncle Stefan, this girl you came back for?"

The forest-eyed vampire paused for a moment, "The girl I'm staying for is." He knew she was.

* * *

Since it was dark, it was time to light the candles. Now in a black trench coat, Nuelle was just waiting for Caroline to get her one.

"Hey, I got your candle." Caroline sang.

"Thank you," Nuelle tilted her candle toward her friend's lighted one, "This is so exciting," she couldn't help but get all excited, causing her to stumble into someone and lit their candle as well.

"Whoops, sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you." A deep voice replied. It was Stefan. "Hi."

"Hi." The raven-haired girl awkwardly looked to the sky.

"You know, that comet...it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." Stefan started, but he received no response from the raven-haired beauty. "I think it's just a ball of...snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home."

"Fascinating." was all the golden blond haired boy got.

He sighed, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself."

"You apologize a lot." Nuelle merely stated.

"Well, I have a lot to apologize for."

"That's depressing." Nuelle tried to make light of the situation.

Stefan smiled, "Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok?"

Nuelle looked softly up at Stefan, "You don't talk a lot about your brother."

"We're not close. It's, uh...it's complicated."

"Always. He told me about your ex. Katherine." Nuelle revealed.

"What did he say?"

"That she broke your heart."

"That was a long time ago."

The latina's face fell, "Stefan, we're only 17. How long can a long time be?"

"Nuelle..." Stefan groaned.

"It's fine, Stefan. I don't get it, but it's fine. I would love to understand how it is to have a complicated brother and a complicated ex. But if you're not willing to help me understand, then why should I even try?" Nuelle exhaled, "We met, and we talked, and it was amazing, but...then the sun came up and reality set in. So...I'm just gonna go." The raven-haired girl blew out her candle and headed toward The Grill.

* * *

Already at The Grill was Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's little brother, and sophomore, Tyler, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, and now Matt.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" The worried younger Donavan asked his friends.

Tyler turned to the younger Gilbert, "You're her stalker. You tell us."

"I can't find her." Jeremy simply replied.

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

"What's with the pill pusher?" The older Gilbert sibling stepped in.

"Ask him." Tyler motioned.

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy threatened.

"Hey you guys," Nuelle walked into the Grill.

"Are you dealing?" Elena persisted.

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler argued.

"She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy bragged.

"Yeah, right."

A very confused Nuelle moved to Bonnie and asked, "What's going on?"

"They're basically fighting over Vicki," Bonnie explained.

"Ohhh."

"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline exclaimed in disbelief.

"There's no way."

"Why can't Vicki Donovan have slept with Jeremy? He's cute." Nuelle defended

The younger Gilbert blushed, but he turned to the Lockwood, "And I didn't even have to force her into it."

Matt was angry, "What the hell is he talking about, Ty?"

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk." Tyler glared at his accuser.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt had snapped.

"We'll check the back." Bonnie and Nuelle said.

"I'll check the square," Matt claimed.

"I'll come with you." Jeremy offered.

"Oh, no, no, no. You are coming with me. So that's your game now, dealing?" His older sister stopped him.

"I'm not dealing."

"Look, I'm sick of the tough love speech, Jer. It's clearly having no impact."

"You and Jenna, between the two of you. Enough already!"

"We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it or to rehab where you'll sit in a group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart. Or you could talk to me."

"I vote for none of the above."

* * *

After a while of searching for Vicki, Matt had eventually found his sister. Eventually, everyone went home, but Nuelle was still feeling unsatisfied. Which is why she at the Salvatore's front door.

The raven-haired girl felt like she either needed to end or begin whatever was going on with Stefan before the situation became more of a mess than it already was.

Nuelle rang the bell and waited.

"Hi," Lucky for her, Stefan opened the door.

"Hey."

"Would you like to come?"

"I'm not planning on staying for long."

"Oh."

Nuelle walked to and settled on the stone bench, under the stone arch. Stefan stood on her left.

"Stefan I'm sorry for coming in without a warning." She apologized.

"No, no. I'm glad you're here. The way we left things...I didn't like it." He admitted.

Nuelle smiled slightly, "See, the thing is, I got home tonight planning on doing what I've been doing for the past few nights, which consists of putting on clay face mask and eating ice cream while watching the "Real Housewives of New York". Sulking about things that I should be telling you. Stefan, I've never been in a relationship, because the minute there's a problem, I run away. I don't fight. I like you, Stefan, a lot, and that scares me because I cannot control my feelings around you."

"Do you want to know what I would write in my journal? "I met a girl. We talked. It was incredible. But then the sun came up and reality set in." The raven-haired beauty suppressed a grin and Stefan continued, "Well, this is reality. Right here."

His forest green eyes met her soft charcoal eyes and they subconsciously leaned into one another. Once their noses were brushing, Stefan gently pressed his lips to hers. When Nuelle didn't pull away, the Salvatore put his hands on both sides of her face and kissed her deeply.

As Nuelle pulled back for a breath she asked, "What are we?"

"What do you want us to be?" Stefan joked.

"Stefan," Nuelle whined.

"Okay," He placed his arms around her waist, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

The raven-haired latina place one hand around the forest eyed Salvatore's and another in his hair and looked intently in his eyes, "Yes."

Stefan pushed their lips together, and they proceeded to make out passionately.

At least the night ended well for one girl.

* * *

 _ **not edited**_

 _ **word count: 4, 010 words**_

 _ **italics for thoughts**_

 _ **Hey you guys! So it's been a while. I'm sorry about that. I wasn't planning for that to take so long. I'm in school now, and I'm out of state. I drafted chapters before I left for school, but I left my notebook at home. Expect more.**_

 _ **Comment, Vote, Add, and Review!**_


	3. III PRIMUM MULTARUM

Hey you guys! Hope your week is going well so far! Please read the A/N at the end! Other than that enjoy!

* * *

 _ **The First of Many**_

IT WAS A BEAUTIFULLY SERENE MORNING, OR SO IT SEEMED AT THE FORBES RESIDENCE. The sun was out bright and early. There was the noise of cars passing by, and the birds were chirping.

The long-haired Forbes suddenly woke up. Disoriented and sore, Caroline quietly got up and looked across the mirror to see and feel bite marks on her neck. Then, looking at her pillow and the raven-haired man sleeping peacefully beside her she remembered the horrific events from the night before.

Frightened, the honey blonde girl lightly tip-toed out of the bed, and carefully headed for the door.

As she twisted the door handled, she looked over her shoulder, but no one was in bed.

 _*Ring, ring*_

"Shit!"

"Good morning." Caroline's heart dropped. In front of her was a wide-awake Damon.

 _*Ring, ring. Beep.* Hi! This is Caroline and sorry I couldn't answer the phone. I was really busy. Just leave a message and I'll get back to you immediately. Have a good day._

" _Well good morning, Caroline 'I won't pick up the phone' Forbes." Nuelle's chirpy voice sounded the room. "I haven't heard from you since The Night of The Comet,"_

"Please don't" Caroline backed away and attempting to defend herself she grabbed the closest thing to her-the lamp.

Unfazed Damon stalked towards her, "Don't do that." But she hit him with the lamp anyways. Caroline ran to the other side of the bed and threw a small jewelry box at his head

"Ahh." He ducked.

" _There's something really important I need to tell you Care, I just wish you would pick up, so we could talk."_

The scared teen rushed to the door, but the calm vampire threw her on the bed.

" _No worries. I'll just tell you at school. Just be warned that's it's about a dark blond, forest-green eyed Salvatore."_

"Get away from me." The frantic blonde threw her bloodied pillow at the vampire's face, which he caught.

"This could have gone a completely different way." The witty vampire calmly stated. He waved the pillow and caught a whiff of the fresh blood from the pillow. Damon's face began to vamp out, causing Caroline's breathes to get heavier.

" _So please be at school."_

Damon attacked. "Ahhh!"

" _Love you Carebear! Bye."_

* * *

"Bon you have to tell her."

"I will," Elena crossed her arms at her friend "I will!" She insisted

"When?"

"Hello, girlies." The raven-haired Silva appeared behind the brunette duo.

"Hey." Elena turned from Bonnie and smiled.

While the other brunette just readjusted her bag and slightly smiled.

Nuelle frowned, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," Bonnie quickly replied, "You're glowing."

"Well, I took your advice and talked to Stefan after the comet. We kissed and now we are officially together."

"Oh my god that's amazing, Nell," Elena congratulated her new friend and nudged Bonnie, "Isn't Bonnie?"

"Yeah, that's really great." The trio stood really awkwardly before Nuelle crossed her arms,

"Okay, spill." The best friends stared at each other for a minute until Elena spoke up,

"Bonnie has something to tell you."

"Elena!" Bonnie hissed.

"She has the right to know," Elena argued.

"Know what? You guys what?"

Bonnie huffed, "I think that you should take things slow with Stefan."

"Oh, my goodness," Nuelle groaned.

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." The Bennett explained.

"You were the one who basically coerced me into making up with him."

"Now I'm saying take it slow."

"What's with the sudden doubt?" Nuelle questioned.

"You're the new girl. This will probably be the only time you'll be single here. It's the perfect time to play the field."

"In normal circumstances, I would, but Stefan's a once in a lifetime type of guy. Is there something you're not saying?"

"It's stupid."

"Bonnie…." Elena pressed.

"What?" Bonnie asked innocently.

"Spit it out." The Gilbert pushed.

"I accidentally touched Stefan and I got a bad feeling." Nuelle laughed.

"It as bad bad!" Bonnie emphasized.

"Is this your whole witchy voodoo intuition again?" The joke earned a giggle from Elena.

Bonnie sighed, "You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern for my new friend's new boyfriend."

"And I appreciate it! From the bottom of my heart, but I think I would know if I got a bad feeling from my boyfriend. Because he wouldn't be my boyfriend."

"Good morning." said boyfriend wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and greeted, "Good morning Elena. Good morning Bonnie."

"Hey, umm. I gotta go find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So, I'll see you guys later…" Bonnie practically ran off.

"Sorry you guys," Elena apologized and began to chase after her best friend, "Bonnie, wait!"

Puzzled at what just happened, the dark blond male said, "She doesn't like me very much."

"Umm, uh," The Latina began, "I wish I could say the opposite. But she doesn't know you. You're new and she's looking out for me."

Stefan entwined their hands as they walked down the courtyard, "But aren't you new too?"

"With girls it's different." Nuelle justified, which caused her boyfriend to chuckle and her to grin. "You know what?" An idea popped into the raven-haired brunette's mind.

"What?" The forest green-eyed boy stopped in front of her.

"Cancel any of the plans you had tonight, because you, me, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie are having dinner at Château Gilbert. At dinner, Bonnie will see what I see and be hooked. Voila."

"Hmmm." Stefan hummed.

This interaction was not going unnoticed. Across the courtyard were some of the football players preparing for practice, including Matt and Tyler.

"Look it's everyone's favorite new guy," Tyler noted. Matt briefly glanced, not thinking anything of it. "What's it about him that has all the girl's reeling?"

"I don't know, Ty," Matt answered, bored.

"Hmm. Well, Nuelle Silva is definitely with the wrong guy."

"They seem happy enough."

"But she could be happier, given the right guy." Tyler hinted.

Matt scoffed, "Well there's not much you can do about it, can you?"

"Except let her know she made the wrong choice." Before Matt could catch the football, Tyler snatched the ball. "What are you doing? Ty, Don't! Ty! Don't! Ty!"

Matt tried to stop his best friend, but he had already thrown the football at the dark blond Salvatore.

But within the blink of an eye, Stefan quickly turned around, caught the ball with ease, and threw it back to Tyler. Matt and Tyler, along with the rest of the students at the courtyard, were astounded. Nuelle was speechless.

"Wow, okay. So, you're a future NFL star. Possibly?" Nuelle hyped up her boyfriend as they were now inside the school.

He smiled, "I used to play football. But it was a long time ago."

"Ahh. So, you were a pop warner kid. Why don't you try out for the team?"

"Yeah. I don't think so." Stefan rejected the thought.

"So, I'm confused, so you don't like football?" Nuelle opened her locker, which was on the left of Caroline's.

"No, I love football. I think it's a great sport. But in this case, I don't think football likes me. You saw Tyler over there."

"Here hold these." Nuelle handed her boyfriend, as he leaned against the other lockers, _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ for AP Lit and her Chemistry book,

"And maybe it's because he doesn't know you," Stefan made a face, "Granted he doesn't know me all that well either, but at least I'm not mysterious loner guy. It wouldn't hurt to open yourself up, make some friends." Nuelle suggested. She closed her locker and wrapped her arms around to the much taller boy's neck.

"Easier said than done." Stefan wrapped his arms around the short girl's waist.

"Please try, for me." She pouted, which only resulted in Stefan leaning down to capture her plump lips in a short, sweet, kiss.

Nuelle pulled back once the bell rang, "Hey, please try."

Stefan just groaned, and she mimicked his groan. They headed their separate ways, "See you later, Steffy."

* * *

In history class, while Tanner was lecturing, Bonnie doodled the numbers "8", "14", "22" on her notebook.

"World war II ended in... Did anyone get anything? Miss Juan? 1945."

"Psst. I heard what happened outside. FYI...Our team sucks. They could use you." Elena whispered to Stefan.

"Can't."

"Pearl Harbor," Tanner asked.

"I'm a loner," Stefan claimed.

"Miss Gilbert?" Tanner now directed his attention towards Elena.

"Hmm?"

"Pearl Harbor?"

"Um..." The brunette didn't know the answer.

"December 7, 1941," Stefan answered for the confused girl.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." The class laughed.

"Anytime."

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall."

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954."

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean war."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha! It ended in '52."

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53."

"Look it up, somebody. Quickly."

"It was 19...53." A fellow student gladly corrected Tanner, to which the knowledgeable Salvatore smiled.

The minute class was over, Elena caught up with Stefan in the hallway, "How did you know all of that?"

"Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a loner thing."

* * *

Once school had ended, Stefan, while sitting on the bleachers, contemplated joining the football team. He didn't want to let Nuelle down, but he also knew the risks.

Unbeknownst to Nuelle, her boyfriend was watching her as she did scorpions, heel-stretches, and scales. This flexibility made the youngest Salvatore a little hot, so he turned his gaze to the football team.

"I didn't know you cheered." Bonnie walked up to the Latina.

"Well, I was at the top of the pyramid at Spence. But it was mainly yoga and palates that increased my flexibility." Nuelle claimed.

"Have you been able to get a hold of Caroline?" The caramel-skinned cheerleader wondered.

"No," The raven-haired girl checked her phone, "It's weird like I have a feeling that this is not Caroline." The girls settled on the ground.

"It's not," Bonnie confirmed.

"Ahem." A soft voice announced.

"Oh my god! You're here." Bonnie exclaimed as Elena stood in her cheer attire.

"Yep. I can't be a sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were, is to do things the way they were."

"So poetic Elena." Nuelle mocked.

"I try." Elena shrugged, which earned giggles from the other girls.

Nuelle clapped her hands, "Great. So, now that you're here I have to let you know that we are having dinner at Elena's house."

"We are?" The best friends questioned.

"Mhh-him. Check the text I sent you. My parents are hosting a business dinner tonight. Therefore, you, Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan, and I will be dining at Chateau Gilbert tonight." Nuelle clarified. Bonnie rolled her eyes when she heard Stefan's name.

"You have to give him a chance. Don't people get chances anymore?" Nuelle pled.

"Tonight's no good," Bonnie turned to Elena to change the subject, "Have you seen Caroline? I've texted her like a hundred times."

But Elena wasn't having any of it, "You know what, that sounds like a great idea. And don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett! You're going to be there."

"Fine, I'll go." The Bennett agreed begrudgingly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Stefan finally decided that he was going to try out for the team. The only problem now was Tanner.

"Mr. Tanner." Stefan started.

"Come on boys let's go!" Tanner screamed at his players.

"Mr. Tanner, I wouldー"

"Tyler! Get it together!"

"Mr. Tanner, can I speak toー"

"Defend the freaking ball!"

Now this time Stefan was frustrated, "Mr. Tanner, I would like to try out for the team."

"Varsity trials were last spring, Mr. Salvatore." Tanner finally addressed him.

"I wasn't here then, sir."

"And you're not here now, as far as I'm concerned."

"Mr. Tanner, I realize that you and I didn't get off to the best start, and I want to apologize for that. I've played football before. Wide receiver, mostly, and I'm pretty good."

"Well, I won't be asking you who won the super bowl in '71."

"'71 was the…" Tanner gave him a look, "Sorry. I... I understand that, sir."

"Just to see you get knocked on your ass. Borrow some gear. Go! Before I change my mind. Let's run it again!"

Tyler, seeing that the new kid had been given the opportunity to join the team, was displeased, "Seems like everything is going well for the new guy. Someone needs to knock him off his high horse. Good thing football's a contact sport." The impulsive Lockwood dangerously hinted to Matt who just sighed, "Sometimes people get hurt. Whoo! Haha!"

* * *

"Ugh. She didn't pick up, again." Nuelle notified her two other friends as she ended the missed call from Caroline.

"Seriously! Where is Caroline?" Bonnie worried.

"I don't know it's not like her." Elena just sighed.

"Let's just try her again." As Bonnie was getting ready to call their missing friend, the sound of a car appeared at the scene. The brunette trio turned around to find their blonde friend with a raven-haired man. As the cheer captain was getting out of the blue 1963 Chevy Camaro, she passionately pecked the man, leaving her friends stunned.

"Uh…" Elena pointed.

"That's her, alright," Nuelle said.

"But who's the guy?" Elena asked interestedly.

"Oh my god! That must be the mystery guy from The Grill."

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore." Nuelle stated as the girls got up.

"Salvatore? As in Stefan?" Bonnie panicked.

"In the flesh."

"He's kind of cute," Elena commented.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline sang as she passed through her friends and stood at the front.

"Please you can have him, keep him if you want." Nuelle shook her head.

"Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy." While the cheer captain was giving her vague excuse, Nuelle stared accusingly at the eldest Salvatore. Damon just smirked in response. He then turned to Elena, who had been staring at him in curiosity, winked and drove off. Nuelle scoffed and Elena felt her face get heated.

"All right let's start with a double pike, herkie hurdler. What do you say?"

* * *

The practice was turning out to be a success for most of the cheerleaders, especially Nuelle. But, for Elena, it was another, painful and tragic, story.

"And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." As they were practicing the routine for halftime, Elena's attempts were just becoming a distraction.

It was time for her to head to the back. "Elena, sweetie," Caroline said softly, "Why don't you just observe today? Ok?" The Gilbert had no problem with that.

"Keep going!" The captain yelled at her team. "Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8."

* * *

By now, the practice had long ended. Stefan had just come out of the shower and now he wanted to his talk to his girlfriend in peace. But living with Damon did not afford him that luxury.

"So, we need to get the drinks and be there by 8. Got that Stef?" Nuelle reminded her boyfriend over the phone, but he had paused because he got to his room and saw his brother sitting comfortably at his desk and reading his diary.

"Stefan? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. I'll pick you up at 7:30."

"Okay see you then. Bye."

"Bye." Stefan hung up.

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team?" The older Salvatore asked, even though he knew the answer to his question. "Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many...adjectives."

Stefan sped over to the desk and ripped the diary out of his brother's hands, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and... I want us to start over." He got up, "We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." Damon tried to keep a straight face but couldn't do it, breaking into laughter.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." Stefan sighed. He didn't understand why his okder brother had to be so difficult.

"Of course, it doesn't. I saw Nuelle today, BTW. That means "by the way." She was at cheerleading practice. Boy, can she stretch." Stefan visibly tensed, "And I saw Elena. She looked so perky in her little short shorts. Just...simmer down, I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now. Ooh, that reminds me...I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." He was off.

* * *

"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie, while she and Elena were preparing dinner, told her best friend all the witchy things she had been experiencing.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena chided.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery." Bonnie gave her a look. But before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang.

"Wait here." Elena headed toward the front door.

"Who's that?" Bonnie asked from the kitchen.

"Nuelle," She responded, then she opened the door, "Hey."

"Hey," Nuelle smiled and took off her coat, "Stefan is getting the drinks."

"Okay. Here let me get that for you," Elena took the coat, "Let's head to the kitchen, Bonnie's there."

"Hey, Bon-Bon." Nuelle greeted Bonnie, to which she smiled too.

"Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena started the previous conversation back up again.

"About what?" Nuelle was confused.

"Bonnie's powers." Elena clarified.

"Ahh."

Bonnie sighed, "She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch."

"I wanna be a witch." Bonnie glared at the seated raven-haired girl. "What? Witches are badass."

Elena poured the to-go food into a bowl. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie's attention went to Elena.

"Well, I don't know how to cook, and I only found about this dinner 5 hours ago."

"That's fine. I can't cook either." Nuelle related.

"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena searched.

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie answered immediately, which caused the other two girls to frown.

Elena opened the draw to find the Bonnie was right, "Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times." She tried to calm her friend.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Or you're a witch." The other girls gave her a pointed look, and the doorbell rang.

"Ok, he's here. Breathe and don't be judgey." With that being said, Nuelle left to greet her boyfriend.

To say dinner was awkward would have been an understatement. It was really bad. With Nuelle and Bonnie sitting across from Stefan and Elena, the table was silent. Nuelle tried really hard to contain her laughter at the awkwardness by drinking her grape soda. But it was so infectious that Stefan couldn't meet his girlfriend's eyes for fear of laughing as well.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan to start a conversation.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right."

Nuelle decided to join in, "Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, andー"

"Yeah, I heard. Elena told me about it." Once Bonnie cut her off, Nuelle just went back to drinking her soda, trying not to choke from her laughter.

Luckily Elena was persistent, "Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?"

"Um, divorced. No, mom. Live with my dad." Her short response caused Nuelle to kick her under the table.

"Oww!" Bonnie rubbed her shin.

"No, about the witches." Elena, pushed, which caused Stefan's interest to peak, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie brushed off the compliment.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan informed them.

"My family came by way of Salem." The Bennett revealed.

"Really? Salem witches?"

"Yeah."

"I would say that's pretty cool." The knowledgeable Salvatore assured her.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie questioned.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." He explained

"Yeah, they are." Bonnie slightly smiled, causing the other two friends to share a knowing look of success.

The doorbell rang. They all shared a look of confusion.

"I wonder who that could be." Elena was the first to get up.

That's when Nuelle remembered, "It's probably Caroline." The rest of them followed Elena to the door.

Elena opened the door and was met with a very cheerful Caroline and Damon.

"Surprise! Sorry I was late. We got caught up, so we brought dessert to make up for it."

"Oh." Elena didn't know what to say.

"Hope you don't mind." Hearing the oldest brother's voice made Nuelle scowl.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan appeared.

"Waiting for Elena to invite me in." He said as if it was obvious.

"Oh, yeah, you canー"

"No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here." Caroline forced.

"We're just...finishing up." Stefan tried to excuse.

"It's fine. Just come on in." Elena allowed him to enter.

"Yeah, Steffy. It shouldn't be too long." Nuelle relented.

"Yeah Steffy," Damon gleamed as he stepped into the Gilbert home. "You have a beautiful home, Elena."

"Thank you." Once Damon was done studying the home, he and Stefan stared at each other, which did not go unnoticed by his raven-haired girlfriend. So as everyone settled in the living room, Nuelle closed the door and held an extremely tense Stefan back.

"Hey, you okay?" He didn't say anything. "Hey, Stefan," She cupped his face and lightly pressed her lips to his, "Don't let Damon ruin this for you. You'll be fine. Okay?"

Stefan couldn't help but soften at the caring nature of his girlfriend, "Okay." He nodded.

"Good," She pecked his lips once more, "Now let's join the rest of the party."

30 minutes after dessert, the group somehow managed to ease the tension. Since there wasn't enough room, Nuelle sat next to Stefan, on the arm of the couch, subconsciously running her fingers through his hair. She did this to calm him, and for the most part, it was working.

The main source of entertainment was Caroline, who was cozied up to Damon, and opposite of Bonnie.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon quipped.

"Yeah, Nuelle did amazing today at practice. I didn't know you had it in you." Caroline gave a backhanded compliment.

"Thanks, Care, I guess." _Was that a compliment or…?_

Caroline continued, "Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie offered.

"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline thought quietly to herself.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon admitted, and she, sitting beside Stefan, smiled into her cup of hot chocolate.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died." Caroline answered honestly for Elena, "Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity."

The conpletely insensitive response caused Nuelle to choke on her hot chocolate, "Sorry, it's hot."

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon emphasized with Elena.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan tensed right back up

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mm." _But that's exactly what you did._ Nuelle couldn't stand the tense mood, so she decided to excuse herself to the bathroom.

"Is everything alright?" Stefan worried.

"Mhh-hmm. I just need to freshen up," She put a reassuring hand on Stefan's shoulder, "I'll be back." Nuelle quickly went off to find the bathroom. Once she was gone, Stefan glared at his brother who just smirked at him in return.

* * *

"One more." Damon entered the kitchen holding up a glass.

"Oh, thank you." Elena expressed gratitude. As Damon was handing her the glass, it slipped, and he quickly caught it.

"Nice save." Elena laughed.

The older Salvatore hesitated for a minute, "I like you. You know how to laugh. It's contagious."

Elena straightened her postured, "Earlier, did were you talking about the ex?"

"Mm-hmm. Katherine."

"How did she die?"

"In a fire. Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

"It seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?"

"She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department," Elena bit her lip and looked down, "She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

"So, which one of you dated her first?" Nuelle joined in, entering the kitchen with some more dishes. The pair jumped apart.

"Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine," He looked back at Elena, "I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable."

"You saw that?"

"We all did Elena," Nuelle emphasized.

Elena sighed, "I used to love it. It was fun. Things are different this year. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

"So, don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da."

The two girls giggle, "As if it were so easy. Have you met Caroline?"

"She's got a point," Elena agreed, and then returned to the subject, "I'm sorry. About Katherine. You lost her, too." Damon was a bit astonished at the doppelganger's sympathy and kindness, something which he was not used to seeing from Katherine.

"Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie came in, pulling Damon from his thoughts.

"Sure, why not?" Damon returned to the living room.

* * *

"And we're here." The Salvatore put his 2009 Lincoln Navigator into park and turned to the raven-haired beauty.

"Hmm." She groaned.

"Is that out of despair or joy?"

"Can it be both? Tonight, was an overall bust, but at least I got to spend it with you. However, your brother didn't make it anyー"

Stefan put a finger on her lips, he didn't want to focus anymore on his hopeless brother, "That's enough about Damon."

"Yeah, butー"

"Ssh." He slowly leaned forward, cupped her cheek, and placed a sensual kiss on her lips. He pulled back waiting for her response.

Nuelle studied his forest-green eyes to find them a bit darker than normal, looking back at her with a heated gaze. She kissed him back with a hungry kiss, and struggling to reach for his hair, Stefan picked her up from the passenger seat and placed her onto his lap.

The normally gentle Salvatore, squeezed her butt, causing her to gasp and he used this as a way to slip his tongue into her mouth. He continued to run his hands through her hair. He continued to run his hands along her hair. The feeling was euphoric. And when she nipped his chin, Stefan felt like he was going to explode. Especially with his veins popping out.

The vampire slowly eased out from the heated embrace and connected their foreheads together. Breathlessly he said, "It's getting late. You better get going."

"Are you kicking me out of your car, Stefan Salvatore?" She teased, "No, it's fine. I better get going anyways. I don't want my mom to crucify me. Goodnight."

She stumbled out the driver's door and clumsily landed on her feet, "Night." She said to her beau before heading to her doorway.

"Night," He responded wistfully, forgetting that he was going home to Damon.

* * *

Nuelle Silva was not going to lie and say that she wasn't excited about the football game. Getting ready at Caroline', made feel like everything was finally falling into place. Her life was turning into somewhat of a cliché, but she didn't mind. She felt normal.

"Hello, earth to Nuelle." The honey blonde cheer captain waved her hands in front of her raven-haired friend's face.

"You were saying," Nuelle shook herself out daze.

Caroline scoffed and crossed her arms, "I need to find the pom-poms and do one more run-through before kickoff."

"Yup, mhm. Most definitely." Nuelle made a serious face but broke up laughing and Caroline soon followed.

"I'm being serious." Caroline nudged her giddy friend.

"And who says I'm not taking this seriously?"

"Serious about what?" The newly assigned wide receiver appeared next to his girlfriend.

The semi-frustrated cheer captain groaned, "Cheerleading stuff. Something you wouldn't know about," She checked her watch, "I'm going to make sure everyone is here. Be ready in 5." She pointed an accusing finger at the couple.

"And she's off." Once Caroline was out of sight, the raven-haired cheerleader faced her boyfriend," "Hi."

"Hey," The footballer gazed adoringly down at his girlfriend, "Nice outfit."

Nuelle twirled in her uniform, "Thank you, thank you. But you look hot in your jersey. Should I be scared that someone will try and steal you away from me?" She joked.

He chuckled and reached for something in his pocket, "No, umm. I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but, I… uh wanted you to have this." Stefan presented a box and opened it, revealing the most exquisite set of pearls the Silva had ever seen.

"I know you like pearls, so I thought I would give you a set that would be hard to rip off."

"How much did it cost? It must have cost a fortune. I'll pay you back." Nuelle began to panic.

Stefan lightly pecked her lips, "It's something that I've had forever, and, uh, I've never met anyone I wanted to give it to until now. I'd like you to wear for me, for good luck."

"I thought I was enough for good luck," Nuelle couldn't help but joke. She delicately picked up the necklace and inspected it.

"Stefan this is beautiful," She sniffed it, "This smells amazing. And is that rose I smell?"

"Not it's the herb that the pearls were dipped in. If you hold it up, in some lights there are lavender specks. It's really nice, huh?" Nuelle's self-assured aura caused Stefan to feel a bit shy.

Nuelle's heart swelled, "Oh, Stefan. This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. Help me put it on?" She turned around, and pushed her hair to the right, while Stefan closed the necklace.

"And, uh, I wanted to thank you for pushing me to try out for the team," He kissed the nape of her neck after he finished putting on the pearls, "It feels really good."

The cheerleader shrugged like it was nothing, "We're a pair. We start together, and we end together."

"Hey, can you give this to Elena?" Stefan handed her a box similar to the one her pearls were in.

"Sure. What for?"

"It would be nice to show her my appreciation as a friend since she also encouraged me to try out for the team."

"I'm so proud. You're making friends." Nuelle teased, which earned a pinch from Stefan.

"Hey," She squealed, "Fine I'll give it to her." Nuelle put the box in one of the pockets of her cheer bag, giving Stefan the time to press his lips on the crown of her head.

"Thank you really," He murmured along her hair.

She grinned up at him, "Good luck."

Stefan went to give her one final kiss, but a murderous Caroline and an indifferent Elena showed up, "Why didn't you tell me that Elena was quitting the team?"

* * *

It was 30 minutes before kickoff, and Tanner was giving a speech to pump up the crowd.

"Wait, wait, wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" The crowd booed. "That is about to change. We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" The crowd roared.

"This blows. He can't start the guy. He just got here." The jealous Lockwood murmured to anyone who would listen.

Tyler moved from the crowd and walked up to Vicki.

"Hey, babe. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Is that Jeremy?" Tyler marched toward the youngest Gilbert, who was drinking with his friends.

"Wait, no! Ty! No. Leave him alone." Vicki tried to stop him.

"Oh, what do you care?" He pushed Vicki away and put his attention back to the Gilbert, "Don't look so down. You can have her when I'm done." Tyler jeered, but Jeremy had had enough of the Lockwood's taunting, so he punched him in the face. This began a fight between the enemies. Tumbling across the grass, it was an entire mess.

"Tyler stop it! Stop, you're hurting him!" Vicki's screams caused more attention to the fight.

Tyler, ignoring all the pleas and screams, was about to go at Jeremy, until Stefan grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" However, seeing the new boy's face only provoked Tyler even more. He punched Stefan, but it had no effect on him. Fear ran through Tyler's veins as he stepped back from the unaffected Salvatore.

Elena, also hearing the commotion sprinted toward the fight just as her brother picked up a broken glass bottle and aimed at Tyler, who moved away, and ended up cutting Stefan's hand instead.

"Jeremy, no!"

"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt tried to get his friend together.

"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding." Elena checked on her brother.

"I'm fine!" Jeremy fought.

"Yeah, you smell fine."

"Just stop, ok?" He walked off.

"Come on, man. Come on." Matt pushed Tyler to the other direction, which let Elena focus on Stefan.

"Oh, my God, your hand." The ex-cheerleader tried to take the injured boy's hand.

"No, no, no, it's fine." Stefan pulled away.

"Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" She proceeded to grab his hand and inspect his palm, to her surprise, nothing was there. It was as if, nothing had happened.

"But...I saw it, it wasー"

"He missed. It's not my blood. See? I'm fine." Stefan rubbed his hand against his pants.

"No, no, no. I... I saw it. The glass cut your hand. It wasー"

"It's ok. I'm ok. It's almost kick-off time, all right? We'll talk later, okay?" The perplexed Gilbert just nodded.

* * *

On the field, the cheerleaders were holding the banner for the players, and Caroline was stressing, "Hey, Tiki, it's all wobbly. Can you stand straight, please? Could someone please help Tiki?"

"Caroline give her a break." Nuelle sighed, getting tired of Caroline's yapping.

In the meantime, Elena approached Bonnie, "Hey! Where you been?"

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction..."

"You know what, forget I said that. Nuelle's little dinner party plot totally won me over."

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, Or..."

"It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about...8, 14, 22."

"Yeah?"

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it..."

"And what?"

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." The raven-haired girl frowned from her side of the banner when she noticed the rigid body language of her other friend's. _Hmm. Wonder what that's all about._

* * *

Elena went to her car to take off her sweater really quickly and put on her new necklace.

"Need help with that?" A mysterious voice asked from behind. Elena turned around to see that it was none other than Damon Salvatore.

"Yeah sure. You scared me."

He pushed her hair to the side, "And done."

"What are you doing here?" Elena turned to face him.

"I'm hiding from Caroline."

"And why is that?"

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen."

"That could be a sign."

"Well, she's awfully young."

"Not much younger than you are."

"I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy."

"Caroline does have some really annoying traits, but we've been friends since the first grade and that means something to me."

"Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

However the Gilbert was smart enough to tell that the charming male was putting up a front, "Yes, it is. Otherwise, you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say."

"You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. I see 'em. You want me."

"Excuse me?" Elena was baffled.

"I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me. And right now...You want to kiss me." They leaned closer to each other until Elena snapped out of her trance and slapped him.

"What the hell? Look, you may be attractive or whatever, and you have that whole sob story going for you. But you are still Caroline's boyfriends. So, I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be part of it. Stay the hell away from me!" She stormed off, leaving him stunned.

* * *

For a second Stefan was feeling a bit hopeful that tonight would end well. But of course, after his chat with Matt, a menacing clap just had to follow.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, "rah, rah, go, team, yeah!" Damon mocked from the corner.

"Not tonight. I'm done with you."

Damon sped in front of his brother, as he tried to get away, "Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess...vervain in the necklace? I admit I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just...eat her."

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon." Stefan faced his brother.

"No?"

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me."

"Well, I'm...I'm tempted." Damon contemplated the thought.

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" Tanner came from the locker room.

"If that's my humanity...then what's this?" Damon sped over to the coach and tore his neck apart,

"Aah!" Tanner screamed.

"No!"

"Anyone, anytime, anyplace." Damon dropped the coach to the ground and wandered off.

* * *

"Tonight ended on a depressing note. So much for "Friday Night Lights." The raven-haired Silva complained as her and her boyfriend stood by Caroline's 2006 Dodge Charger. "I mean, what kind of animal has the time to come out of the woods and attack someone just before a high school football game?"

Her words caused Stefan to chuckle a bit, "I don't know." He said as he massaged her shoulders.

"I heard about your hand," She leaned against the car, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He missed. I'm more worried for Jeremy if anything." Stefan reassured his girlfriend.

"Time's up, lovebirds." Caroline appeared and looked at her raven-haired friend, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Nuelle slid her hands out of Stefan's, went on her tippy-toes, kissed Stefan on the cheek, and walked over to the passenger's seat.

Once Caroline pulled out and reversed, Nuelle looked Stefan one more time and blew him a kiss.

* * *

" _I thought there was hope that somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster Who must be stopped."_

Little did the younger Salvatore know as he was writing in his diary that his older brother was in Elena's bedroom gently caressing Elena's face. But once she woke up, Damon was gone. So maybe there still was a little bit of humanity left in Damon, it would just take a few trials and tribulations to ignite it.

* * *

 **Hehe, hehe. So, yeah. Elena is gonna figure out that Stefan's a vampire before Nuelle. Just like in canon. It doesn't mean that Nuelle will not suspect anything, but that's that.**

 **Question/Poll: For the next chapter, which is "Family Ties" or the Founder's party chapter, who do you want to go with who:**

 **1\. Nuelle/Tyler, because their parents make them as some sort of political power couple?**

 **2\. Stefan/Elena**

 **3\. Nuelle/Stefan**

 **4\. Nuelle/Stefan/Elena**

 **5\. Caroline/Damon/Nuelle**

 **6\. Caroline/Damon**

 **7\. Bonnie/Elena**

 **You can choose to have more than one option.**

 **I would like to get 5-10 responses about this so that I have an idea, who is going with who. The more responses, the better. Fyi, the longer it takes to get responses, the longer it takes for the next chapter to be posted.**

* * *

 ** _not_ edited**

 _ **word count**_ : 7, 472 words

 _ **italics for thoughts**_

 **C** **omment, Fav, Follow, and Review!**


	4. IV IGNORATIO ELENCHI

_Hey guys! Hope the New year is treating you well! I am sorry for the wait, I had this chapter draft about a month ago, the original outcome gave me no inspiration to type the chapter. Hope some of you aren't too mad at me. **Please Read A/N** need some input! Enjoy!_

* * *

 _ **Ignorance of the Issue**_

"SO, THERE ARE TWO MAIN CLASSIFIERS OF THE PERIODIC TABLE, WHAT ARE THEY?" Sitting up on her bed, the raven-haired teen asked her study partner.

"Groups and periods," Her intelligent dark-blond partner answered while laying down at the end of the king-sized bed.

"And which side of the periodic table contains the most reactive elements, and which contains the least reactive elements?" Nuelle waited expectantly for an answer. It was now a few weeks later since the Tanner incident, and since the Founder's Party was coming up, the students of Mystic Falls had a week off of school. Nuelle, whose forte was not Chemistry, wanted to make sure that she was prepared for the first Chem Test.

Stefan, getting to spend some more time with his girlfriend, was not complaining, "Uh, left is most reactive, and right is least reactive."

"Good job, Steffy! That warrants a reward." Nuelle slyly suggested.

To which Stefan leaned up on his side to his girlfriend's suggestive tone, "And what should that be?"

"A kiss." Nuelle met the dark blond for a sweet embrace and then wrapped her arms around his neck, "So, I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to the Founder's Party?"

"They still do that?" The Salvatore's eyes peaked with interest.

"Great! So you've been?" Nuelle tilted her head in curiosity.

"No," Stefan shook his head, "The Salvatore's don't get invited anymore."

"Well, now they do," Nuelle simply resolved, "Also, as this is my first soiree, I would love it if you would come with me. For my parents, at least my dad, this is my introduction to society, and it would be nice if I wasn't alone." The normally confident Silva ended softly.

"I would love to accompany you, Miss Silva." Stefan easily accepted the offer.

Nuelle grinned, "Just make sure that you get a dark suit."

"Yes, Miss Silva." He mocked.

"Hey. I just like to be prepared." Nuelle began to lean away, defending herself.

"I can respect that." Stefan continued to tease her serious demeanor.

"Well now you don't have a choice, do you?" The raven-haired girl tried to threaten with a sweet smile.

"Mhmm." Stefan hummed and proceeded to pinch Nuelle's hips and when she squealed, trying to get away he refused to remove his hands off of her, so the couple fell off the bed with the dark-blond boy on top of his girlfriend.

"Stefan!"

"Is everything alright." A concerned Carmen Silva appeared at the door.

"Yup, everything is fantastic." The teen couple giggled and chuckled.

"Yes, we're fine Mrs. Silva." A composed Stefan reassured.

"Hmm. Okay, well just keep the door open."

Once she left, Nuelle turned to Stefan and playfully hit his chest, "I hate you."

* * *

"Hey mom," Nuelle came down the red staircase, expecting her mom to be waiting for her in the foyer, but Carmen was not, "Mom?"

"In the living room," Carmen yelled out.

Nuelle's heels clicked as she headed toward her mom's location, "Mom, ready to go?"

"Hold on." The attorney was intently watching the news.

"I can confirm that a 12-foot puma mountain lion attacked a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. The hunter is in stable condition." Sheriff Forbes' voice sounded the room.

"You'd think that it would take less than two weeks to find this serial animal killer. If it even was an animal." The teen marked, settling on the sofa her mother was standing behind.

"Shh." Carmen hissed, narrowing her eyes at her daughter.

"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught." The brown-haired Logan Fell reported to the screen. Then Carmen turned off the T.V.

"Mom is it me or is it just a coincidence that once we move to Mystic Falls there happens to be a reign of terror occurring?"

"There are just certain things that we cannot control," Carmen responded to her daughter diplomatically.

But Nuelle just ignored her mother's tone, "I mean you are the DA and Caroline's mom is the sheriff. Can't dad just give you guys a bit more money, so that it'll be a bit easier to protect us?"

Carmen whipped herself around and put her hands on her hips, stopping them right before the door, "Nuelle we are doing our best. It's just extremely hard to get the exact animal that is terrorizing us without getting the wrong mountain lion."

Nuelle scoffed, "Whatever you say, mom."

"Mi corazón," Carmen sighed, "This is not your problem. You're not an attorney yet. Right now, you're supposed to get ready for the Founder's Party, going with Stefan, and having fun with your friends. Enjoy your time as a teen and leave these things to the adults. You're not going to be a teen forever. Okay?"

"But-"

Carmen gripped her daughter's chin, "Drop it Nuelle. Okay? Now let's go to lunch."

* * *

"You're taking Damon to the founder's party? What about me?" Bonnie Bennett exclaimed as her and her blonde friend entered the Grill.

"Go with Elena." Caroline carelessly offered her stressed friend.

"She's taking Matt."

"Okay, go by yourself." Caroline responded harshly, "There she is."

"Sorry, I'm late." Elena sat down next to her caramel skinned best friend, across Caroline.

"Is everything okay?" Bonnie asked concerned.

"Yeah, I was just packing my family's antiques for the Heritage display of the Founder's Party." The Gilbert explained.

"About that, is it okay if I join you and Matt at the party."

"Yeah, no problem. But why?" Elena inquired.

"Well, Caroline ditched me for Damon." Bonnie stared accusingly at Caroline, "What about your mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

"And I'm supposed to care why?" Caroline rolled her eyes.

"He's older sexy danger guy."

"That would require him to be sexy. Hello ladies." The raven-haired brunette now stood before her friends in her raven cape.

"I thought you said you couldn't make it." The golden blonde girl crossed her arms accusingly.

"Well, technically I still can't because I'm having lunch with my mom. See she's over with the Lockwood's." Nuelle turned their attention to the stunning chestnut-haired middle-aged Latina in a black pencil skirt and blouse.

"That's your mom, she's hot." Elena complimented.

"Well looks can only get you so far," Nuelle said snidely, "Anyways, I'll catch up with you girlies later." Once the raven-haired Latina went to the Lockwood table, Caroline continued their previous conversation, "And Damon's not dangerous. You know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-rooted drama."

"Like...?" Elena leaned forward.

"I'm not really supposed to say anything." The usual blabbermouth acted coy.

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow and questioned her friend.

"Okay. I was going to tell Nuelle anyways so I might as well tell you."

Meanwhile, at the Lockwood table, "Hey, mom. Hi Mrs. Lockwood and Mayor Lockwood. Hey Tyler." Nuelle greeted the tables' inhabitants. Even though she was annoyed with her mother, Nuelle when to turn up the charm in front of important people. Obviously, the Lockwood adults were charmed.

"Hi, Nuelle. I don't believe we've met," Caroline Lockwood started "You're very pretty. I cannot believe Tyler hasn't mentioned you."

Nuelle chuckled at the annoyed expression on Tyler's face, feeling his mother's gaze on his face, "Yes, well Tyler and I only have Italian together, and I'm sure he's very busy with football and school, Junior year is the hardest year of school especially for college apps."

The mayor, being very impressed by the Silva girl's demeanor, had an idea pop in his head, "Nuelle do you happened to be going with anyone to the Founder's Party?"

"Dad!" Tyler, knowing his parents very well, knew where his father was going.

Nuelle feigned a blush, "Unfortunately my hands are tied. But maybe Tyler can save me a dance." Nuelle egged on The Lockwood's hope for a political match.

"Carmen she really is your daughter." Mayor Lockwood complimented his peer.

"Thank you, Richard, but we should get seated, we are famished," Carmen claimed.

To which the patriarch of the Lockwood family allowed, "Yes, please. It was very nice to meet you, Nuelle. Hopefully, we see you at the party."

The Silva women left the table to find their own, but not without Carmen smirking from hearing the Lockwoods grill their son on not pursuing high-class girls like Nuelle but instead pursuing low-class waitresses.

"Thank you, mi corazón." Carmen began to praise her daughter.

Only for said daughter to crush the touching moment, "It wasn't for you mom, it was for Tyler. Now, shall we order?"

* * *

"So, what are you girlies wearing for the party?" It was now hours before the party, and Nuelle, standing in front of her mirror to decide which dress she was going to wear, wanted to see which stage her friends were in.

"Nuelle please don't tell us that you don't know what you're going to wear." The Bennet began to reprimand her friend.

"Umm, do you want me to lie or not."

"Nuelle, the party literally starts in 2 hours." Caroline groaned.

"I have two options. I just don't know which one to choose." Nuelle continued to discuss her problem calmly, ignoring her friends' fear.

"What are your options?" Elena opted to help.

"See at least Elena wants to be supportive in this time of crisis," Caroline and Bonnie scoffed, "Midnight Black or Navy Blue with floral patterning?"

"Blue, definitely the blue," Caroline answered instantly.

"Oh my goodness you haven't even seen the dresses."

"All you wear is black, Nuelle. It wouldn't hurt to trying something new." Elena explained.

"We trust your judgment." Bonnie assured her.

"Okay, I'll go with the blue."

"Good, now while you get ready Elena and I have to put on our nail polish so we'll see you later." Bonnie hung up.

"Okay, so what are you doing for your hair?" Caroline inquired as she began to put her dress on.

"Simple. Curl my hair and then style it with a side part. But when will you and your mom get there?"

"Oh, I'm not going with my mom. I'm going with Damon." Caroline hesitantly responded with a low voice.

"Urgh. Seriously, Care? Demon? Isn't he like 30?" Nuelle kind of joked but made her feelings of the eldest Salvatore clear.

Caroline couldn't keep herself from giggling, "Like Stefan is any better."

"That came out of left field. What is that supposed to mean Caroline Forbes?"

"Well let's just say that apparently, Stefan has a very interesting backstory." The blonde hinted at the Salvatore's alleged dark past.

"And let me guess, the source of your information is Damon. Way to be biased Caroline." Nuelle's voice dripped with dry banter.

"Do you even know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Caroline averted her attention from the sarcasm.

"Caroline, what does this have to do with anything?" Nuelle sighed.

Caroline was relentless, "Well I don't know. It's not like your boyfriend has the potential of being a calculating, manipulative liar."

"Which Stefan is not." Nuelle quipped in defense of her boyfriend.

"Anyways, they both dated her, only Katherine chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally, it worked, and she turned against Damon."

Nuelle laughed at the ridiculousness of the story.

"It's not funny, Nuelle! This is serious." Caroline whined in frustration.

"Honestly Caroline, I could care less about Katherine. Do you want to know why? She's his ex. She's in the past and she's dead. Stefan is not the problem in the relationship with his brother, Damon is. The two couldn't be any more different from each other."

"Okay well don't take my word for it. I'll see you at the party." Caroline hung up.

* * *

"It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud." The raven-haired Salvatore was checking himself out in his brother's mirror, knowing very well that his presence only annoyed Stefan.

"Yes, being a 150-year-old teenager has been the height of my happiness," Stefan replied sarcastically while sitting down at his desk, prepping his shoes.

"You cracked a funny, Stefan. I should have a drink to celebrate. 1864. You and Katherine were the perfect couple. It was hell watching you dance with her." Damon confided in his brother, not without keeping his tone light and full of humor.

"My happiness was short-lived, as you well know," Stefan claimed.

"I remember. I left the party early, I was waiting for her. The night you dropped her off, I was waiting just inside. You were such a gentleman, gave her a kiss on the cheek. And what she really wanted was...Oh, well. Here's to the past, huh?" Damon cheered as he was about to drink his glass filled with scotch.

He smelled the drink and discovered it's spiked with vervain. He dumps the drink on the floor, "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment. I have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?" Damon threatened, leaving the room and leaving Stefan to conjure more plans to put his brother down once and for all.

* * *

"Did I tell how stunning you look tonight." Stefan once again praised his girlfriend's appearance as they were climbing the stairs to the Lockwood mansion.

"Well, you may have mentioned it once or twice." Nuelle smiled at her boyfriend's continuous affection.

"But you do." He kissed her cheek.

"Hi, Mayor Lockwood." Nuelle greeted at the seemingly warm Mayor Lockwood.

"Hey, Nuelle." The mayor approached the young couple, "You look very pretty, and who might your date be?"

"Stefan. Stefan Salvatore." Stefan introduced himself to the mayor, shaking his hand.

"Salvatore, huh?"

"Yeah, umm, a distant relative."

"Well, I won't hold you guys any longer," Mayor Lockwood moved out the way, "Please have fun."

"He seemed,"

"Intense, yeah." Nuelle finished for her polite date, "Rich people tend to size you up when their sons have been jilted for someone else."

"So you and Tyler?" Stefan began to tease his girlfriend.

"No, no. Somebody else has swept me off my feet." Nuelle played coy.

"Really? I wonder who he is."

"He's just this guy. A bit broody, maybe even a bit boring at times. Not as exciting as his brother, who is pretty-"

"Hey, hey, hey. That's enough." Stefan cut her off, even though he was grinning. Nuelle also couldn't contain her laughter.

* * *

" _The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration_." Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" As the night went on, Elena found herself reading the first registry and seeing the familiar names startled her.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Luckily Damon was quick enough to cover, but his arrival into the room, even with Caroline, made everyone uneasy.

Matt, noticing the raven-haired male's gaze on his ex-girlfriend choose to introduce himself, "Hey I'm Matt."

Damon took a while to shake the quarterback's hand, but eventually, he did, "Damon, Stefan's brother."

"Damon." Stefan entered the room.

"Speaking of the devil, Where's your date Steffy?" Damon began to bait his brother.

"Speaking to her mom, she'll be back." Stefan kept his response short, "What were you guys talking about?" The vampire obviously knew.

"The past. It seems like we can never escape the past Stefan." Damon gleamed continuing his brother's misery.

"Oh, then we don't want to bore them with that."

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena tried to get the secretive Salvatore to open up a bit more.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline complained.

"Mm-hmm." The older brother hummed.

"Well I would offer, but Matt still has to dance with Bonnie and me," Elena claimed, somewhat possessively.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Nuelle entered the tense room, standing by her boyfriend.

"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline asked her friend immediately.

"Yeah, sure. If it's okay with Stefan."

"I don't really dance." Stefan tried to excuse himself.

But his brother wouldn't let me off easily, "Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

"I mean we all "can't dance" one dance shouldn't hurt Stefan." Nuelle rubbed his arm to make him feel a bit more comfortable, "If it makes you feel better, I owe Tyler a dance."

"And I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline proceeded to take the reluctant Salvatore out to dance.

* * *

 ** _Nuelle's P.O.V._**

So while most people were out on the dance floor, I decided to search for Tyler, because why not? I had to go through many corners and rooms, to the kitchen, to get the back entrance of the Lockwood mansion, after asking a caterer.

"You'll have to forgive my son's rudeness. He gets it from his father." Before I made my presence known, I realized that there was something off about Mrs. Lockwood's sweet words.  
"Well, that's okay, Mrs. Lockwood. Tyler and I were just saying good night." With that, Vicki stormed off, embarrassed.

Mrs. Lockwood turned to Tyler, "That's what you get when you bring the trash into the party." I didn't realize how much of a bitch she was. The more I thought about she was even worse than my mother. I don't understand why people in this town treat Matt better than Vicki as if they are not siblings. Urgh, sexism. Anyways, I ran back into the kitchen to get away from the Lockwood mess.

"Oh my goodness, Nuelle. I completely forgot about you." But tonight, wasn't a lucky night for me, as Carol Lockwood found me.

"Oh no, that's fine Mrs. Lockwood. You've had so much to do tonight; this event is beautiful. I mean it's as close to the Met Ball as Mystic Falls can get." which was not by a long shot, but hopefully, she was eating it up.

"Oh Nuelle, you're perfect. I don't know why Tyler isn't actively trying to pursue you. You two would be great together." She pushed a piece of my hair back and it took every fiber of my being not to lean back, "Have you gotten a chance to dance with."

I feigned a blush, "I actually have been looking for him, haven't seen much of him, do you know where he is."

"Actually," She turned around and Tyler was walking in the opposite direction, "Tyler. Tyler!" The already moody boy looked like he wanted to disappear right there but obliged his mother's calls.

"Yes, mom?" He sighed, and I really wanted to laugh.

"Tyler, Nuelle has been looking for you all night." _Not necessarily_ "Can she have a dance."

Tyler just stared at me with a tired expression on his face, while I acted coy, "Sure, mom." And he held out his hand for me, what a gentleman.

Once we were out of his mom's sight, Tyler tugged me to the side, "What kind of game are you playing?" He hissed.

"Tyler, you obviously don't understand the etiquette or rules of high society so let me explain it to you. Your parents want us to be together because your mom's a bitch and your dad is probably an ass. My mom is the DA and my dad is some type of business mogul. People of high-status usual end up with other people of high status."

"Woah, Woah, Woah. I'm flattered and all, but aren't you with Salvatore?"

"Ew, no. I don't want to be with you. I'm very happy with Stefan, thank you very much. But it's obvious that your parents make you miserable. You don't get who you want to be, so if you at least entertain their hopes and wishes, maybe you'd a bit happier, a bit less moody, and bit less of a dick to Vicki." I don't understand what was so hard to understand about this.

But he was still a little reluctant as he crossed his arms and smirked, "Why do you want to help me?"

"Oh Tyler, walk with me." It wasn't a question I was asking. I took his hand and began dragging him to the dancefloor outside, "Consider me as your guardian angel of some sorts. I'm here to make your life as easy as possible. Your parents shouldn't cause you so much stress. If you do this my way, your parents will be the least of your problems." I gave his puzzled face a little pat on the cheek and went on the middle of the dancefloor to finally dance with my guy. I just had to interrupt his dance with Elena, which wouldn't have been a problem if their discussion wasn't getting so heated.

"Elena, whatever Damon told you is not the truth. He just wants to turn you guys against me."

"Stefan, well then say something! We don't know anything about you."

"We or you, Elena? Because for someone who is not my girlfriend you are taking this way too seriously."

That was my cue to step in, "Hey guys, is everything okay?" Everything was obviously not okay, but you know me, ever the icebreaker.

"Yeah," Stefan lightly smiled and rubbed my hand.

While Elena's glare didn't drop, "Yeah, I was going to go find Bonnie anyways." She left.

"What was that about?" I wrapped my arms around Stefan as we began to sway.

"Nothing important."

His nonchalant tone caused me to scoff, "Whatever you say, Stefan."

His grip on my hips tightened a bit to assure me that nothing was wrong, "Nuelle, there's nothing to worry about."

"It must be a talent brushing everything off," I pulled myself out our embrace as my mood was starting to wane, "I'm going to see if Elena is alright."

"Nuelle." He called out to me retreating figure, but I couldn't explain it, I just didn't like his closed off attitude. I know where still getting to know each other, and he's sweet and gentle and soft, but at the same time he's holding something back.

Once I went inside Elena and Bonnie were seated in a sitting room, lamely eating ice cream.

"Stefan treat you well." Elena jokingly greeted, but there was still a hint of annoyance laced with her words.

"Yeah well, he's ever the charmer." Bonnie moved over a little so that I could sit next to them.

And she, noticing our sarcastic banter, felt bad, "This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter."

"No, Bonnie. It's not your fault, Elena's fault, Damon's fault, or anyone else's fault that Stefan can tell the truth." I offered a warm smile and Elena put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Before we could get any more comfortable, Mrs. Lockwood came in, "Elena, honey, there you are. I notice the watch still isn't in the collection." She didn't even acknowledge Bonnie and me.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I, um, I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed up in my parents' stuff somewhere." Elena poorly excused.

"I see. Well, please let me know if you do find it." Carol left as an unhappy camper, and I was loving it.

* * *

After some time of lamenting with ice cream, I decided to just freshen up in the powder room. I was actually was surprised to meet Caroline there, "Hey, Care."

"Hey," She glanced at me, "So how are things with Stefan?"

"Well, you know."

"So, they're going horribly." She said with glee in her voice.

I turned to gape her incredulous behavior, but as her cover-up was slipping down a bruise caught my eye, "What is that?"

"Hmm?" She tried to move away, but I lifted up her scarf to see bite marks, "Don't!" She still continued to fight back.

I was horrified, "Oh god, Caroline, what happened?"

"Nothing, okay?!" She forcefully denied the marks as if they did not scar her body.

Someone was definitely abusing her, and I wouldn't put it past Damon to do, "That is not nothing! Did somebody hurt you?"

"No, okay, nothing. It just...My mom would kill me." Oh, Caroline, what did you get yourself into.

I pulled down her shawl and saw more bite marks on her back, I was getting angry, "Caroline, what the fuck? Did Damon hurt you?"

"No! Of course not! Just leave me alone. Okay, Nuelle?" She pushed past me and ran away in a frantic way.

All I could see was red. How could Damon do something like that her? How could anyone do that to anyone else? I wanted to kill him.

"Pardon me." I pushed past the couple in front of me without waiting for a response. Right before the stairs going to the dancefloor was the asshat himself in all his smug glory. I couldn't help myself, but once I got within arm's distance, I backhanded him. There were a few shocked gasps from the people around us, but I could give two fucks.

"What the hell is actually wrong with you?" I hissed in a low voice, "Because sleeping with an underage girl is already a legal offense. Physically abusing her too is now a felony. All I have to say is stay away from Caroline or I will go to her mother, the sheriff, and my mom, the district attorney. I speak in threats too, your shady dick." From the look of his Damon's face, he looked dumbfounded, but I could have cared less. I just wanted to know if Stefan had a hand in this because his brother was a sick bastard.

Luckily for me, I needn't search for long as my knight in shining armor was facing the lake, "You knew, didn't you?" I approached him softly.

Stefan turned to face me with a puzzled frown gracing his perfect brows, "What are you talking about?"

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks that cut deep. And she's so scared, of him. Damon has her all confused." All my guy did was nod, not in surprise but in understanding.

So, I laughed darkly, "And you don't even have the gall to act surprised. You obviously knew your brother had the potential to hurt Caroline. Stefan, I don't care if he's your brother, he needs to be put behind bars."

"Nuelle, please, I don't expect you to understand." I didn't expect him to be protecting his brother over this. He hated Damon, and now he was defending him.

I could feel my blood level rise, "Understand the fact that your brother is an abuser and potential rapist?

"Nuelle, you just need to trust me." He reached for me as I pulled away and profusely shook my head.

"No, Stefan. No. Your brother is hurting my friend—no—my best friend and you have the audacity to try and defend him and make me understand his sick and twisted mind. You're his brother so how do I even know that you won't hurt me? Hmm?"

Stefan's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, "Nuelle, I would never."

Even though the hurt and pained look in his forest-green eyes proved that he was telling the truth, how did I know he was going to be consistent, "I've been so stupid thinking that this was going to work. You obviously don't trust me enough to confide in me and now I don't trust you. So, let me make this easier for both of us. We're done, Stefan." I was walking off.

"Nuelle, please don't do this." He pled.

"Have a good night Stefan."

* * *

"Caroline," We were now on my bed, dressed in our pajamas after this horrendous evening, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Like you would have done anything," She quietly retorted as she placed her head on the pillow, "Shacked up with Stefan."

"Caroline, I'm not your mom so don't speak to me that way. Seriously, why didn't you say anything?" I pushed.

"Nuelle, can we just please drop it? Please." Her voice cracked and my heart couldn't help but break a little.

"Okay," I ran my fingers through her hair, "I'm just going to say goodnight to my parents, okay?" I got off the and put on my slippers.

Once I opened the door and turned off the lights Caroline whispered, "Nuelle please don't say anything to your parents."

I fought with myself to actually listen to Caroline. Finally realizing that it was not my secret to tell, I listened, "Of course. Night Care."

As I headed down the hall and down the stairs, I looked for my parents. The sound of Kardashians coming from the family room gave it away and I sped up really craving their comfort right now.

"Mom, dad?" I called out to them as I entered the living room.

"Hey, sweetheart. How's Caroline?" Mom asked as she was laying down on the couch with a pink plush blanket.

"Where's dad?" I tried to avert the conversation as I rested my head on her lap.

"That bad, huh?" She ran her fingers through my hair.

"Mom, I broke up with Stefan tonight." I could tell that mom was stunned as she paused for a bit.

"Oh okay," I giggled, "Everything will be alright, mi corazón." I loved my mom's enthusiasm sometimes, but I just knew things were just going to get worse.

* * *

 _ **Third Person P.O.V.**_

"Thank you for staying so late." Richard Lockwood addressed the council. It had been a long time since the party had ended, probably even 1 a.m. at this point, and the leading members of the Founders Council decided to meet.

"Did you get the Gilbert watch?" Sheriff Forbes questioned the Lockwoods.

Carol looked defeated, "She claims it's packed away in her parents' things."

Logan was eager, maybe a little too eager, "I can get it."

"Good. We're going to need it." Forbes encouraged the arrogant reporter's determination.

"Are you sure?" The mayor was hesitant.

"Five bodies all drained of blood? I'm certain." Forbes was confident.

"They've come back," Logan claimed.

To which another member responded, "And you've just figured that out now? Who says they ever left?" Henri Silva emerged from the shadows. Even though the man was short, he still managed to invoke fear from his peers. Especially without his trademark charming smile.

"Henri, you're late," Richard grunted.

"You must excuse me, Richard. There was business to take care of, as per usual." Henri just smirked, taunting his peer, "Anyways, we shouldn't do anything to provoke them, because they're vampires. You're just regular everyday people, Logan, don't get cocky."

The reporter looked down in shame, while the sheriff was not so intimidated, "And how can you be so calm with our children's lives at risk?"

"Oh, dear Liz, think of everything as a business transaction. Yes, killing the vampires will get rid of them, but what if we could control them? Use them. Tit for tat if you will. Just make sure we have the vervain from the Salvatore's to keep them down. At least for now."

* * *

 **Ohhhhh, so what is Henrí planning? So much different from the first chapter. If you can't tell he is now played by Mark Consuelos aka Hiram Lodge from Riverdale. Nuelle is portrayed by Cami Mendes. Carmen is played by Roselyn Sanchez.**

 **So, yeah. In my defense, at least I let them go to the party together. I am actually really happy they broke up because I was feeling like I rushed the whole relationship and even though they're my OTP they need to take time.**

 **This was actually a different chapter as there wasn't too much Salvatore brothers and much more Tyler. I imagine Nuelle and Tyler becoming BROTP, because why not? And as you can obviously see, I don't like season 1 Damon. What he did to Caroline was just despicable and Stefan's excuses were lame. So I don't think Nuelle and Stefan will get back together until 1x20. Unless someone can change my mind.**

 **Anyways, how did you guys feel about this chapter? Do you like Nuelle's pov? Do you want it to continue? Do you want more than one povs like Stefan's, Damon's? I can totally see myself doing Caroline's pov. Also, which characters would you like to see more of, Jeremy? Bonnie? Matt? Damon? Stefan?**

 **How do you want Stefan and Henri to meet? When do you want them to meet? Tell me your predictions!**

* * *

 ** _not_ edited**

 _ **word count**_ : 5,474 words

 _ **italics for thoughts**_

 **C** **omment, Fav, Follow, and Review!**


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